Star The Monster Princess
by The Wandering Hippie
Summary: A sequel to "A Tale of Moon and Monsters" this follows Star Butterfly the half Monster girl as she has fun and learns more about how to be a queen while dealing with some inner demons from her past. A MonStar fanfic since there are to few of those as well, enjoy and please tell me if I can write better, this is only my second story.
1. Star Comes to Earth Pt 1

**When I was writing my first ever story people kept on asking me about a sequel so I asked them what they wanted by giving them 2 options of what I could write. The overwhelming response was "Star the Monster Princess" a sequel to the first story and I hope to deliver better then my original work.**

 **I will be following the "Star vs the forces of Evil series" closely when it makes sense during the first season with some alterations due to Star's different behavior and back story. After that the story will change quite dramatically. If you have an episode you want to see let me know and I will see if I can do it.**

 **Note, I will be publishing chapters in a more staggered fashion then my first story to proofread it as grammar was the biggest issue with it so expect a chapter to come out once every two weeks at least or so. It may come out faster but never later.**

"WOHOOOOO!" Star threw up her hands as the Gryphon she was riding dive-bombed over the forest doing a few twists in the air. "Hurry up Buck Beak or we'll be late."

"*You mean you will be late.*" Buck Beak didn't talk but shrieked at her like a Red-Tail hawk as he picked up speed.

Star just threw up her hands as the wind flowed through her calf length hair and enjoyed the ride as Buck Beak flew over a forest that turned into farmland. Not far in front of them was a small city with a massive eastern style castle at the center that bore onion doomed towers; the destination of Star Butterfly heir to the kingdom of Mewni. As of this, her 14th birthday, she would receive the artifact of her ancestors, the wand of the Butterfly lineage passed down for more than 1,000 years since the kingdom was founded. Buck Beak, a creature who had the top half of a hawk with red and black feathers and a silvery black spotted leopards hind quarters, flew past the magical barriers protecting the city easily and swooped low over the town. Star waved to the people down below with several waving back as Star neared the castle's outer perimeter and flew over the secondary walls which were physical and made out of some sort of concrete.

"Well, here I go."

"*Stop for nothing and never hold back.*" Buck Beak shrieked as Star leapt from Buck Beak's back landing in the castle gardens on her feet from a 30 foot drop.

Star was a rare person being half Mewman and half Monster, the two main races that inhabited the lands of Mewni that Star was heir to. She stood average height for a 14 year old and had calf length bluish-silver hair that framed her rounded face very well. Her skin was a light grey like the concrete the walls were made of with her face bearing a dark rose colored heart mark on each cheek. She looked like a human in most other aspects except for claws on her hands and toes, sharp reptilian teeth, and a reptilian tail coming from beneath her clothes. She wore what looked to be a black semi-formal Victorian dress with two buttons on her chest and a small white collar just around her neck and also had a dark purple headband with devil horns holding back her hair. The most stunning feature about her however was her green eyes that bards constantly referenced it songs and poems about Star which could turn more yellow, blue, violet, or grey almost at Star's will.

Star didn't spend any time thinking on this however and ran for the door on all fours reaching 35 miles an hour to get to the throne room faster. Rushing through the double doors Star ran past crowds of people who were lined on either side of a long carpet that had been rolled out for her ceremony. Star ran at almost full speed up to the twin thrones where her mother and father were standing smiling at Star's entrance but glancing around slightly nervous, Queen Moon Butterfly and King Toffee Butterfly respectively. Moon appeared like an ordinary human with blue eyes and white skin except for bluish-silver hair done up in a heart shape and a light magenta diamond on each cheek just like Star wearing a formal Blue dress. She had a slightly aged appearance but that made her seem wise and understanding more than anything else. Toffee was a tall being who looked as much lizard as human with dark grey skin, lizard feet which were kept in shoes, clawed hands, a lizard's tail, and the face of a lizard despite having very well kept black hair and rather beautiful green eyes. He wore a formal black suit with a white vest beneath it with gold tussled cuffs on his shoulders and held a silver sickle sword with strange runes chiseled into it.

Star made it to the steps that led to the dais which the thrones were on and only then felt nervous as she realized eyes from everyone were all on her. She shivered internally as she walked up not glancing around lest her nervousness turn into fear and stopped in front of her mother curtsying in the appropriate fashion. She did hear a slight sigh of relive from her parents only making her more nervous as several trumpets blared out.

"Now Star, this is a big responsibility that I am handing to you, you understand that right?" Moon cocked an eyebrow at her daughter as she nodded in understanding. "Very well." Moon smiled as she gave Star the wand and made her turn around.

The wand changed from Moon's 1 ½ foot gold staff with a small crown shaped icon holding a blue crystal heart bearing a fleur-de-le on the end of it into the form it would take for Star. It had a 1 foot dark red haft with a rose colored orb on one end with a half emerald and half pink rose quartz star at the center surrounded by a deep indigo backing. Coming from the sides of the orb were a pair of black bird wings and a pair of white bat wings with a small crown on the top of it.

"Hear ye hear ye, on the day of Star Butterfly's 14th year we do present her with the wand of the Butterflys that signalith her coming of age to be made heir to the throne of Mewni. All hail the princess Star Butterfly." Star shuddered slightly as Manfred, her family's royal announcer, spoke loud and clear to the crowd.

Star had never done well with crowds or most people for that matter so looking over the crowd made her excitement and confidence shrivel up fast. She did see lots of smiling and approving faces among the crowd, most notably from her friends, family, and her parents friends. Most of the looks however were just neutral expressions of approval which made Star nervous as she couldn't tell what they were happy for her or upset that she got the wand. A few of the looks were outright annoyed or hostile towards Star as they seemed to be unhappy a half Mewman half Monster creature was now heir to the throne of Mewni. The worst part for Star however was seeing that several people simply did not bother to show up though they had been given quite literally years of warning ahead of time all because they didn't approve of Star. Star swallowed her anxiety and waved at everyone as she walked out of the throne room as people filed away for an after ceremony meet and greet. Star tried to move out of the room but felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her father staring down at her with his own green eyes and a smile on his face.

"And where are you going my shining Star?" Star looked to the ground and held her hands behind her back as Toffee and Moon looked at her concerned.

"Well my part in this is over after all, I should get going…"

"Your friends are going to be there." Moon smiled knowing what Star was going to say. "I know these types of occasions are not exactly your thing but please go along with this one to show people who you are."

"Well ok, if you insist."

"You are not going to be on a pedestal, just intermingle and be yourself." Toffee smiled at Star as he spoke guiding her to the ballroom.

'Maybe it won't be so bad.' Star thought to herself as she went with them.

* * *

"Star we are sorry for yelling at you, please come out." Toffee looked at his wife as she tried to negotiate with Star behind her closed and now magically sealed door.

The party had been going just fine until Star tried showing off to a couple of people her magical abilities by creating small cute animals. When several of the more disapproving guests began laughing at her and calling her the 'wannabe princess' the animals leapt to Star's defense by attacking the guests causing a ruckus. Star tried solving the problem herself by trying to draw the animals back into the wand but in the process created a black hole that sucked up everything in its path, including one of the guests. Star then used her magic to bring the guy back but also brought forward a strange monstrosity that began destroying the ballroom. All of this happened before Moon arrived on the scene to stop the magic from flowing and yelled at Star that it was enough and she should lower her wand lest she burn the castle down.

Moon meant for it as a joke and many people laughed the situation off as the creature was put down but Star disappeared during that moment. Toffee actually had to remind Moon that Star can take these things the wrong way if she is under stress and she may have upset their daughter given the stress she was under during the party to appease people and deal with the mess she made. Moon and Toffee went to find their daughter only to find she had barred herself in her room and was trying to make no noise like she did when she messed up really bad. Moon had ordered the party to continue without them in anticipation of getting Star out quickly but 10 minutes later no such luck had come their way.

"Moon sweetie this isn't going to work." Toffee put his hand on Moon's shoulder making her calm down.

"*Sigh* I know that now Toffee, I should have watched my wording with how sensitive our daughter is." Moon turned and laid her head on Toffee's chest as he let her hair down so he could easily rub her head. "Normally she brushes things like this off but…" She looked up at Toffee. "What are we going to do, we can't just let this continue. I thought all this was left behind after the war ended Toffee, why can't they just accept our guiding Star." Moon had tears in her eyes now.

"The war still isn't technically over and even if it was old beliefs die hard slow deaths even if only a few people follow them."

"Star is always so free, happy, and strong when she is out in the wilds, fighting the Forest Barbarians and wild beasts, or riding that Buck Beak friend of hers. We need some way to get her to interact with people so she can be more trusting especially with the wand now at her command."

"I don't think we can do anything here in Mewni what with the way many people talk about her and even occasionally treat her when we aren't around to protect her." Toffee then had an idea that involved an old friend from another dimension. "Although there may be a place where she can learn to be with people and be with one of our old friends." Moon cocked an eyebrow at him in confusion as the gears turn in her head until she realized his idea and smiled.

"Butler, send word to Angie that we require her assistance." Moon yelled out with Butler, a man who looked to be in his 70's yet was still as sharp and efficient as ever, seemingly appeared from nowhere and nodding while going off to do his duty. "I will never understand how he is always so attentive even at his age."

"I'm just as confused as you are Moon." They both watched as Butler walked away quickly and efficiently.

* * *

"I'm sorry about what I did and that I ran away, I'll accept any punishment you…" Star was silenced by Moon and Toffee getting on their knees and hugging her.

Currently they were in the main courtyard as several figures overlooked the trio as a carriage was loaded up with Stars possessions. In front of the carriage appeared to be a pair of red dragon like creatures with lion heads looking to be the creatures that pulled the carriage. The figures overlooking them were Butler; A giant humanoid Frog man who was the captain of the royal guard known as Buff Frog; the announcer Manfred who seemed to be wearing showy blue clothes as his job required; and an older woman who was wearing a light lavender formal dress with white-streaked turquoise colored hair being done up in a heart shape with blue butterfly marks on her cheeks like Moon and Star.

"You're not being punished for anything Star, we are just sending you someplace you can learn things we can't teach you." Moon smiled as she pulled back from Star.

"Like St. Olga's?" Toffee and Moon both got disturbed looks on their faces and looked at each other when Star said that.

"Not on my life they will not." The older woman spoke with a sure and earnest voice staring the couple down.

"No mother we would not even consider that nightmare of a hell hole even with the recent reforms." Moon stood up and faced Star again. "Instead you will be living with a friend of mine on the Earth Dimension in a place known as Echo Creek where you will be attending school."

"Wait, I get to go to public school?"

"Yes dear, yes you do." Toffee smiled and led Star onto the carriage with Buff Frog and her grandmother coming along with her parents.

Manfred gets up to the reins of the carriage while Butler stepped forward with a pair of scissors and seems to cut a hole in reality revealing a strange swirling vortex of white and pink that Manfred drives the carriage through. It emerged in front of what appeared to be a public high school on earth called Echo Creek Academy parking in a handicap parking spot with the carriage door opening and the five people within come out.

"I will never get used to how quickly we travel with those scissors, why do we not just walk?" Buff Frog asked no one in particular.

"Because Star needs her things and this is the best transportation we have. Now let's see what we can do about the education aspect." Toffee immediately heads for the school.

As they headed in a cop pulled up on a bicycle and saw that the carriage was parked on a handicap spot and went to write a ticket for it. As he went to place it on the carriage however one of the creatures pulling it turned and growls at him making him break out in a sweat. He still pushes forward however until the creature snapped its teeth at him making the cop run for cover and call for backup. Inside the school Star marveled at the strange array of metal doors that her parents told her were lockers and that people used them to store supplies in for school. They didn't stop to admire though and made it to the principal's office where they met with a short fat man with a well receded hairline who was wearing a suit with a purple bow-tie. He didn't seem too happy to be barged in upon but accepted them nonetheless as he eyed them up.

"So you two are Mr. and Mrs. …"

"Butterfly sir. We wish to enroll our daughter into your academy while she stays on earth." Toffee spoke while the lights begin to flicker making everyone look up in concern.

"And you said there was no magic on earth." Star was smiling now with her nervousness gone as she flicked the light switch on and off while Buff Frog watched the lights in fascination.

"Yeah I don't think this is going to work." The principal folded his arms until Toffee pulled out a small chest to reveal it was brimming with gold. "I take that back, she is going to love it here." Star continued to flick the light switch even faster now.

"She is going to need a guide Principal Skeeves." Moon spoke in a dead pan expression as Skeeves got a phone out for the intercom system.

* * *

Marco Diaz, an ordinary looking Hispanic boy around 14 with dark skin, brown eyes, black hair, and a small mole on his right cheek wearing a red hoodie, worked in class looking absolutely bored like everyone else in the room until he heard the intercom.

"Marco Diaz to the principal's office please." Marco actually smiled at that and stood up.

"Oooooooh, so much for me being the safe kid huh?" Marco looks around the class which was unresponsive. "I Marco Diaz have been called to the principal's office for who knows what crime against…"

"WOULD YOU JUST GO ALREADY!" Marco shut up and ran after a fat old woman sitting at the teachers desk yelled at him to get going.

Marco hurried to the principal's office only to see a very odd collection of entities in front of it including a humanoid lizard, a humanoid frog, and two women dressed like Disney princesses with one of them looking surprisingly familiar all talking to principal Skeeves.

"Ah there he is, Marco my boy come over here I have a job for you." Marco blinked softly and walked up to the group in concern. "This here is Queen Moon and King Toffee of Mewni and they would like to enroll their daughter at our school. Knowing that you are the "safe kid" I give you the job of seeing her through a tour of the school."

"What no, I am a misunderstood bad boy!" Marco spoke in frustration to hear a few giggles from the group next to the principal.

"I believe someone says the same thing about herself when she has free time." Toffee looked at Moon who gave him an annoyed look.

"I actually am wild, free, and reckless when I have the opportunity to do so; duty demands otherwise from me though." She then turned to Marco smiling. "You will not only be guiding Star though, your family will be hosting our daughter for her stay on earth."

"WHAAT!" Marco was stared down by Buff Frog at that.

"You will take good care of her, or I will take good care of you." His Russian accent made him seem even more intimidating as he cracked his knuckles. "Got it?" Marco nodded nervously as Toffee elbowed Buff Frog in the gut making him gasp for air.

"Don't terrify him to death Buff Frog we still need him. Star, come on over and meet your new friend and guide." Marco turned to see a girl fascinated by the water fountain making it run until she saw Marco and bounded over on all four legs till she was right next to him.

"Um, hi?" Marco leaned back a little as Star put her face right next to his looking at him in question while she waved her tail.

"You're my new friend? Oh what is your favorite color, what's your favorite food, is there really magic on earth, do you like board games?" Star then leaned over and sniffed his hair. "You smell nice, what shampoo do you use?"

Moon spoke to Star making her step back blushing "Star, it is very rude to just smell people without permission."

"I taught her that, is good way to know friend from foe." Buff Frog leapt in to explain Star's actions to her mom.

"He's right you know." Toffee and the older woman answered in sync.

"Wait, who are you two?" Marco pointed to the two unnamed figures.

"Oh, I am Buff Frog captain of royal guard of Butterfly castle and bodyguard of Butterfly family."

"I am Willow, grandmother to Star Butterfly." The woman in the lavender dress answered.

"Wait, Grandmother Willow. Why does that sound fami…" Marco was interrupted by a chiming.

"Oh we must hurry off, don't worry Star we will come to visit you soon." Moon came over and kissed Star's cheek.

"Marco, a quick word." Marco went with Toffee to the side. "Our daughter has some social issues aside from her eccentrics due to "bullies" in the past. You need to keep a careful eye on her and use this device to call us if you don't know what to do with Star if she has a problem." Toffee slid him a small blue flip mirror confusing him for multiple reasons.

"How will I know when to call you?"

"Oh, you will know." Toffee walked back to the group boarding the carriage. "See you later my little MonStar."

"Good bye papa." Star waved as her family got into the chariot, which had 5 cops around it by now and turned it towards a portal which they went through and disappeared like they were never there.

"You kids have fun, papa's going to the ice cream shop for all 52 flavors." Principal Skeeves walked off now as the cops began investigating the area in confusion.

Star turned towards Marco smiling in anticipation "So, where do we start safe kid?"

"Wha, I am not a safe kid! Everything you have heard about me so far is not true." Marco began walking with Star skipping along looking at everything in awe and stopping occasionally to look closer. "I don't know where this all is coming from, oh watch the lose floor tile, but I am not like that." Marco then pulled Star away from an open locker afraid she might knock her head on it. "You wear a helmet in the shower room one time and you are labeled for life. Ah, watch out for the broken glass." Star watched Marco with interest as he continues. "Frankly I like taking risks and would welcome a little danger in my life."

"Oh nice, well how about this." Star blasted some magic at a Butterfly that turned it into a giant Butterfly that roared picking up a random person and began using him to play hackey sack with until Star turned it back into a Butterfly. "Sorry sorry, got a little ahead of myself… wait I thought you would like this?" Star turned towards Marco who was looking at her with concern.

"Who are you?"

"I am Star Butterfly, a magical princess from another dimension." Star made a small pose and made a small rainbow behind her that caught on fire which she quickly put out nervously as Marco let it all sink in.

"… um, k. So I should probably show you around town and show you how to get to my house right?" Marco felt nervous around the lizard girl creature but decided to tough out as she seemed kind of vulnerable for some reason.

"Oh, I get to see Angie. My mom and her are actually very good friends even though it has been years since they last saw each other. I wonder if she still likes the song "Thriller Night"?" Star then did a strange dancing movement as she walked with Marco.

'This is gonna be harder and stranger than I thought.' Marco thought as he led Star home.

 **Spongebob Narrator: One journey begins later...**

 **Hey that's supposed to be in the next cha... oh you know what never mind.**


	2. Star Comes to Earth Pt 2

**Narrator: Can I do it now?**

 **NO! You already did it in the last chapter, just let the chapter start normally.**

A 4 ½ foot tall, red haired, green eyes, freckled woman wearing patchwork camo over chainmail armor watched Marco and Star with carnivorous humor in her eyes as they walked home. Smiling she pulled out a pair of scissors and cut open another portal like the one cut for Stars parents except it was black with green swirls and went through it into some sort of misty swamp. She picked her way along paths that had been carefully made and cleverly disguised with shrubs so a single person could pick their way through if they knew where they were going. Moving into a stand of ancient and thickly clumped Willow trees she found a single tree with 9 trunks coming out in different directions and gave a signal to let people know she was not a threat. She leapt up the trunks until she got where they converged and opened a small hatch which she leapt down sliding down for a ways. She emerged into a small underground candle lined hallway with some sort of throne at the far end with a single guard by it and 4 doors on either side of the grand hallway.

"Hail and well met war chief." She spoke gleefully with her green eyes gleaming in delight from her freckled face. "Star Butterfly is on Earth with the family's wand, unguarded and with no knowledge on how to use it."

The throne had its back to the door and appeared to be built on a swivel so the figure sitting in it could rotate it, which they did now. It revealed a woman who was in her early forties with ragged blond hair and pale eyes that seemed to more reflect color then have any of its own wearing armor and camo similar to the other girl. The major distinguishing features were marks on her cheeks that were grey and in the shape of roses and a helmet that seemed to be made of a single skull from a dragon like creature.

"Dumnorix, gather a war party immediately; we must not squander this opportunity." The guard, a beefy seven foot tall figure with long white hair and a beard to match wearing an eyepatch and similar armor, nodded and ran off immediately down one of the corridors. "You will come with us Selene." The red haired girl smiled carnivorously and ran off to join Dumnorix. "You have made a fatal mistake dear cousin Moon, we will never give up Mewni to those degenerates you call your friends and family. We will make a Mewni for Mewmans by Mewmans once I have taken the birthright you stole from me; even if it is from your daughter's cold dead hands." The woman smiled carnivorously as she got up.

"Um, any reason you are talking?" one of the doors opened and a short but stocky barbarian poked his head out.

"I'm monolouging, DO NOT INTERUPT MY MONOLOUGE!" She screamed this out as if she was monolouging so the barbarian just shrugged his shoulders and went back to work.

* * *

"Star Butterfly, come in we were expecting you and I must say you look exactly like the pictures your mother has shown us."

Marco stood in shock as his mother Angie Diaz, an early forty something woman with green eyes and brown hair, hugged Star and welcomed her into their house.

"Wait, you know Star's parents?"

"Of course I do Marco I have been friends of her parents since we were teens, we met when we were just a little bit older than you are currently. I actually told you about it but you just brushed it off as a story for some reason." Angie smiled as Marco stared on in disbelief.

"I have heard so much about you. Is it true that my parents danced on the so called "Halloween" night in this world?" Star looked up at Angie with a big smile on her face as another figure entered the room.

"Is it true? They came over multiple times with me being included in the equation several times." Raphael Diaz, Marco's father, was a big and tough but almost cute looking guy with his big brown eyes who seemed to immediately be smitten with Star. "Won't it be great having another foreign exchange student staying here Marco?" Marco's parents looked at him with big eyes as Star began walking around the house looking at everything new to her.

"Um yeah, it should be great." Marco smiled a little nervously as his parents turned back to Star.

"Your stuff is in your room upstairs Star. You can unload everything before dinner when we can finally get to know each other better." Angie spoke as Star stared at small clock in wonder.

"Where are all the gears in this thing? They must be microscopic to fit inside of here."

"Won't it be great having the energy of Star around the house?" Raphael spoke eagerly.

"*Sigh* We could have gotten that from a litter of puppies." Marco spoke under his breath but Star seemed to hear.

"Oh, I love puppies, let me show you some of mine." Star waved her wand creating a literal pile of puppies.

Marco looked in shock as his parents cooed over the puppies; that is until they started shooting lasers from their eyes. The lasers didn't do much damage but they did knock over a few things and burnt some of the furniture in parts as the parents continued to coo over the dogs now with a little caution. Raphael even picked one up to hold it but was zapped in the eye which didn't seem to do a thing to it but he did close his eye chuckling nervously. Marco turned to Star who seemed to be trying to gather up the puppies now nervously trying to keep them from zapping anymore.

"Sorry sorry, trying to figure out how this works." Star motioned to her wand as she led the puppies upstairs.

"Marco, you go up and give her a hand." Marco sighed at Angie's request.

"Ok fine." Marco followed Star with his parents looking on in concern.

"Are you sure they will get along?" Angie smiled at Raphael.

"Oh course they will, they just need time to open up to each other."

Marco made it up to Stars room as she was looking around in interest tapping her foot on the floor as if inspecting it.

"Well, this is your room."

"Ok, I can work with this. Sparkle Glitter Bomb Expand!" Star waved her wand around with it glowing a purplish-pink as Marco grew concerned at the waving.

Outside several people were walking by when what appeared to be an eastern tower jutted out of the side of one of the houses in a bright flash of light.

"Whoa… you think I could get the contractors to finish that fast?"

"With their work ethic, it'll be a miracle if it is finished by next year."

Back inside what appeared to be a three story tower house was now in the place of Star's room with a proud looking Star and awe struck Marco looking around the room.

"Wow, I wish I had a room like this." Marco said his thoughts out loud getting Stars attention.

"Oh, I can do yours too." Star smiled and ran out as Marco realized what he had done.

Marco followed Star to his room, with him wondering how she knew where it was, and pointed her wand at it before he could say anything.

"Mystic Room Suck Transform." As Star said that a black hole emerged in the middle of the room sucking everything up.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Marco and Star screamed as they pushed each other out of the room closing the door behind, but not before losing a few unfortunate puppies who had decided to follow them.

"suck, Suck, SUCK!? Why was the word suck in that spell?" Marco spoke scared at what had just happened.

"Idon'tknowitjustcameoutthatway!" Star was in panic mode now. "I'm sorry, how about a little sunshine to brighten your day?" Star cautiously created a little sun above Marco that immediately turned into a storm cloud that started raining on him.

"I can't take this anymore; if you are moving in I'm moving out." Marco wasn't angry; he was panicking though now at what might happen next.

Marco immediately ran for the stairs but tripped over the remaining puppies and hit his head on the wall. Star reached out to him but the storm cloud shot lightning at Marco making him involuntarily leap causing him to trip over his wet socks on landing. This caused him to slide and fall out the open window at the end of the hall making him fall for nearly 15 feet with a soft thud. Star looked out to see him lying on a cactus covered in cactus spike in parts of his body twitching every few seconds.

"Are you ok? Do you need any help?" Star asked cautiously as Marco got up.

"NO! Just stay away from me please." Marco limped-ran off with Star looking on.

Star raised her hand about to call out to him but then felt her anxiety kick in once more and looked around in nervousness. She saw the puppies who were actually looking up in concern but Star only saw looks of accusation at the moment. Star began breathing fast and immediately ran for her room leaping under the covers and 5 layers of quilts on her bed and hugged a stuffed animal the size of herself while taking deep calming breaths. Images ran through her head at what had happened to Marco and began blending with images of what had happened to other people in the past thanks to her, including those at the wand presentation yesterday. Star didn't know how long she laid there trying to overcome her crippling anxiety but when she finally emerged it was near evening or nearly 1 hour later on the clock.

"O gods, I need to find Marco now." Star leapt up shivering at the impact of cold air on her reptilian self.

She quickly conjured up something warm to put on, a turquoise oversized hoodie with a purple octopus on the front, and leapt out the window running out to find Marco tracking him the best she could with scent.

* * *

Two hours later it was dark and Marco was standing in front of a Stop n Slurp gas station soaked to the bone and twitching in one eye. A car pulled up in front of the station and Marco seemed to smile creepily and held out a cup from the gas station. And old man stepped out of the car walking up to the gas station and double took when he saw Marco.

"Hey brother do me a solid, refill this for me!" Marco waved the cup at the man who side stepped.

"Bloody Border Rats, is everything a drug to you!?" He walked inside with the door closing behind him.

"They won't let me back inside because I'm SOOOOGGGGY." Marco danced back and forth creepily as a young mother and child left the store. "Did you bring my refill?"

"Don't make eye contact." The mother and child run off with Marco munching on a candy bar and drinking from his beverage.

"You come to my house you bring toilet paper!" Marco smiled and turned to see Star just a few feet away from him. "Aaaah, what are you doing here?!" Marco got into some sort of fighting stance.

"Apologizing." Star raised her wand and with a flash of pink light the storm cloud disappeared. "I didn't have a choice about coming to earth and you didn't have a choice about having to deal with me. I'll tell your parents about this and see if I can find another family to live with."

Marco's scared expression softened when he saw Star's eyes held tears and she was looking down in sadness. Star turned to walk away and then sneezed and shivered slightly as if she was not dressed warm enough for the weather.

"Are you ok Star?" Marco stepped forward as Star shook herself.

"Yes, I just wished I put on something warmer for tonight and actually controlled myself like I should have." The soft sad voice almost made Marco whimper at how sorry Star was for what she had done.

"Oh you are going to regret much more than that." Marco and Star looked up in shock as they saw a group of 20 camo and chain mail covered warriors emerge from nearby. "Well well well, and here we were trying to figure out how to get you in Mewni and here you are on earth with the wand and no protection what so ever." This was said by a 40 some woman with ragged blond hair and eyes that seemed to reflect the light more than produced color.

"Aunt Mavis, how did you find me here?" Star's sadness disappeared to be replaced by anger and her eyes turned yellow with slit pupils.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes, that's why I asked."

"Have you ever heard of sarcasm my girl? Any ways, TAKE YOUR REVENGE JOHANSENS!"

"JOHANSEN HO!" warriors leapt forward in a wave to Star who hissed and whipped her tail from side to side like a wild animal.

"HIIII YA!" Marco leapt forward landing a blow in the nose of one of the warriors stopping the whole charge with everyone looking at him in shock as he finished taking down the warrior.

"You can fight?" Star looked in awe as Marco turned smiling.

"It's called Karate." Marco then uppercut another barbarian making him fall hard to the ground.

"She has a guardian?!" Mavis turned to Selene in anger. "You said she was unguarded."

"I thought he was just a guide not a warrior." They turned back to see the two actually holding off the barbarians fairly well.

"Rainbow fizzy punch." Star shot a rainbow colored fist at three warriors making them fall like bowling pins.

Another one ran at Marco who redirected the man's attack making him hurt his comrade and then tripped them both onto the ground. Star was grabbed by another barbarian to which she picked him up single handedly and threw him into a car much to his shock. Marco leapt up into a jump kick that landed squarely on another's face and used him as a shield from another one until he kicked the second one in the groin making him fall over in pain. Star leapt up on the car she threw the barbarian into and leapt down ward hitting another Barbarian with her wand making it whiney for some reason.

"You are embarrassing the name of Johansen; I will claim the wand myself." Dumnorix strode forward with his massive 7 foot bulk.

Marco smiled at him and landed a punch at the man's torso only to have it be deflected by his iron abs. As Marco held his hand in pain the man smiled and slapped him effortlessly to the side and went in to finish the boy off.

"My ancestors will be avenged for the suffering your mother caused us." Selene leapt out of the background at Star.

Star tried firing magic at her but she was able to dodge the blows near effortlessly for some reason like she could predict her pattern. Star let her guard down for a second to deal with another barbarian who had snuck up behind her and while she dealt with him handily Selene leapt up from behind and knocked Star down. Marco was busy trying to fight off Dumnorix who seemed to just shrug off every blow Marco could land on him and was seemingly quick enough to occasionally return the blows back to Marco, who didn't shrug them off. Star tried fighting Selene in close combat but she was too quick for Star knowing she couldn't match the lizard's strength in a grapple and used her twin daggers to slice at Star. Star was able to heal from them quickly, a gift from her father's heritage, but she couldn't do it quickly and stay in a prolonged melee as it exhausted her to heal at the fast rate her father could even for one of his kind.

"Yes yes, only a matter of time now." Mavis stood there smiling as Marco and Star found themselves back to back between Selene and Dumnorix.

Marco and Star looked at their opponents and realized they wouldn't win at this rate and at the same time seemed to come up with the same idea.

"Switch!" they yelled at the same time leaping at their companion's opponent.

Dumnorix tried landing a blow on Star and hit but Star just healed from it and hit him in the Solar plexus so hard he fell to his knees gasping for air. Star they used her wand to blast magic into his face screaming "Jelly bean hallucination mist" making him look around as the world seemed to twist and contort.

"Whoa, what is happening?" He looked at his hands as in his eyes they seemed to produce faces for some reason.

Marco leapt at Selene who tried slashing at him to get to Star but Marco seemed to twirl in an almost ballet fashion and disarmed her of one of her blades in the blink of an eye.

"Only a dirty fighter uses weapons my girl." Marco smiled at her landing a blow so fast at her face she only had time to turn so the cheek was struck instead of the eyes.

She growled in anger and leapt at Marco like a rabid animal would bringing her other dagger in for the kill but he just twirled again and disarmed her again. This time he landed a solid blow on her back throwing her into a dumpster face first. She crawled around growling until the lid of the dumpster slammed down shut on her making her curse in a muted fashion behind the lid as she struggled to get out.

"What is wrong with you all!" Mavis yelled at the group and drew a sword turning to the two to see them both looking at her smiling.

"Mega-Narwhal blast." Star shot what seemed to be a cascade of Narwhals out her wand taking down Mavis and the remaining barbarians.

"So, want to have another go?" Marco asked smiling as everyone tried getting back up from the solid thrashing they just received.

"No, you win this round." Mavis got up and opened a portal. "This is why you are supposed to train constantly and expect the unexpected people. Alright, back in the portal." Mavis glared as the group limped through the portal as best they could. "You are even retreating in a pathetic manner." Selene came by cursing under her breath picking garbage out of her hair while Dumnorix was feeling along as best he could muttering _"I'm freaking out man"._ "We will be back, I SWEAR IT!" Mavis closed the portal behind her.

"That was amazing! I was amazing! You were amazing!" Marco was smiling as Star began to smile as well.

"Well yeah we were." Star smiled at Marco with her eyes returning to normal.

"Say, I know you have trouble with the wand and all so you can still stay with us as long as you want." Marco smiled at Star who got a look of adoration on her face.

"Hugs!" Star leapt at Marco hugging him close with Marco smiling.

"Say shall we get home, it's rather late."

"Sure." Star pulled up under Marco's hoodie pulling it close over herself.

"Ummmm…"

"Sorry but you are just so warm Marco and I underestimated how cold it would be." Star shivered next to him enjoying the warmth.

"… ok. So are there going to be more barbarians?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright, sounds so dangerous in the right ways. Say why are they coming after you?"

"Well Marco, once we get back I will tell you the story about my parents and my positon in Mewni." Star scrunched in closer to him as they walked home with Marco reflexively hugging her as they walked.

* * *

"Shall we gather a larger war party War chief?" Selene asked Mavis with anger in her voice.

"No, we do not wish to attract the attention of Moon or the authorities on earth. We must keep striking quickly and quietly and learn from our mistakes in order to take the wand no matter how many times we fail." Mavis looked over her force as it recovered from the brutal defeat at the hands of the children.

"I will learn and show that boy who is the master."

"I have no doubt you will." Mavis smiled at her while holding her nose. "And please wash up you know ventilation is horrible down in the bunker." Selene nodded ashamed and walked away. "And you drink some bog water to alleviate the effects of that magic before you hurt yourself." Dumnorix nodded walking off in a blind daze to get his hallucinations seen to.


	3. Party With a Ponyhead

**To "Angel of Darkness"; here you go you party monster ;)**

Night time was at the Diaz house with several people busy at work in the kitchen making something that attracted several animals due to the good smell. Marco was working in the kitchen on something with Star watching in eager anticipation with drool coming from the corner of her mouth. Marco glanced over his shoulder to see Star inching closer by the minute and shuddered a little knowing how Star gets when she is around food, especially hot food with lots of meat and cheese in it.

"Behold Star, feast your eyes on this!" Marco turned and unfurled the meal he had just finished making.

"Marco's super awesome Nachos." Star got teary eyed looking at it in joy as she almost reverently took one of the Nachos. "Triangle food." Star popped it in her mouth chewing with shudders running through her body. "*cruch cruch* Show goodth *crunch crunch*" Marco smiled at Star's enthusiasm until they heard someone knocking at the door.

Marco put the plate down heading to the door to see who was there while Star, caught up in ecstasy, began eating everything on the plate in comically fast time. Marco opened the door looking around into the night with a slowly growing suspicious look on his face. He looked left then right and as he looked left again finally saw something.

"Yo what up home fries!" Marco screamed in terror at what had just said that making him pass out and getting Star's attention.

"Wha… *gasp* OH MY GOSH! Flying Princess Ponyhead!" Star stepped up to the door stepping on Marco in the process.

"Oh hello B-fly!" This came from a floating unicorn head with blue fur and a pink mane with pink hearts on her neck. "Girl we're going out tonight. Ready to forget your inhibitions and have fun?"

"I actually am for once, let me just wake up Marco." Star pointed to Marco who was laying on the ground recovering from the sight and getting stepped on.

"Oh, that's not a dead person?"

"I'm not dead yet." Marco replied weakly to Ponyhead.

"Pony, meet my best friend on earth Marco Diaz." Star picked him up waving his arm at Ponyhead.

"Your best friend?" Ponyhead looked at Star in concern.

"On earth, you are my best friend on Mewni. Marco, this is the Pony I have been telling you about." Star chuckled nervously as Marco finally stood up and looked at Ponyhead.

The two circled each other with Pony snorting into Marco's face in a way that might be deemed an insult with Marco snorting right back taking Ponyhead off guard.

"For a disembodied head you do seem rather nice." Marco smiled slyly at Ponyhead.

"For an ugly turd you seem rather nice as well." Ponyhead smiled right back.

"Ummmm…." Star looked at them nervously before the two began laughing.

"That was a joke; seriously we need to teach you about sarcasm." Marco smiled at Star with Ponyhead.

"Alright girl, let's go." Ponyhead spat out a pair of dimensional scissors.

"Ohhhh, dimensional scissors. Where did you get them?" Star seemed excited as Ponyhead cut a hole through reality.

"Wait we are going to another dimension?" Marco seemed confused and concerned as Star looked at him in worry and Ponyhead seemed to smirk at him.

"Wait you don't want to…" Marco pumped his fist interrupting Star.

"Finally, I was wondering more about the secrets of the universe; let's go." Marco leapt through with a relived looking Star following him.

"Well, he's a bit more aggressive than I thought he would be." Ponyhead thought looking around in concern as she slowly backed into the portal closing it behind her.

Another portal opened just seconds after she left with three figures wearing what appeared to be Nazi uniforms stepped out looking around. One stooped down to what seemed to be a small pile of glitter on the ground and tasted it with the other two looking around scanning the area. The first figure stood up and nodded to the other two as he pulled out his scissors and cut another hole with the trio going through it.

* * *

Meanwhile Marco, Star, and Pony wind up falling through the air until landing on some clouds with Marco missing the clouds and catching himself landing on his feet.

"Wha… where are we?" Marco looks around in curiosity as he took in the environment.

The environment looked very much like a club you find back on earth with a dance floor and some beanbags and couches along the edges of the area. What was not normal were the vast number of non-humans of what seemed to be different species from all over the cosmos and the fact that everything seemed to be placed on top of clouds in a vast purple space. Up at the Dj stand what appeared to be a 7 foot tall humanoid hyena wearing a blindfold was playing music with the help of two robots while the dance floor lit up as the music played. People were dancing or just chilling on the sidelines talking with each other creating a fun yet very laidback and chill atmosphere.

"The Bounce Lounge, my favorite place to just chill." Star laid back completely relaxed seemingly letting out a held breath even she didn't know she had. "Just watch out for the spikes along the edges."

Marco looked over the edge to see spikes surrounding the dance area about 50 feet below them and his eyes went wide when he saw skeletons in them.

"Why do people build these things without handrails?" Marco's question went unanswered when Star pulled him to a photo booth.

"Marco, photo booth, photo booth now." Star tossed Marco into the booth and followed through with Ponyhead.

Star pulled the two in close and the booth began taking pictures with the first one having Star in the middle and the other two pulled in close. As the pictures kept on coming Marco and Ponyhead seemed to compete over who would be in the spotlight with Star at first very subtly but escalating into Ponyhead outright pushing Marco into a wall. Marco didn't take it lying down however when he actually pushed Ponyhead down to look over her pushing her off camera. Star all the while didn't seem to notice anything as the two engaged in a catfight over Star.

"Now just you two, the day when my besties became besties." Star smiled maoving out with the two at first smiling then pushing heads together like angry bulldogs.

"Listen here earth turd, we are not gonna besties." The two stopped to get a picture as Ponyhead talked. "We are not gonna even be second besties."

"First off, perhaps the only thing I'll agree with you on. Second, Second besties is not even a word, let alone a thing." Marco stopped so they could get another picture.

"Oh you wanna make this a thing? This night is really important to me so you stay out of my way or you gonna get the horn." Ponyhead shoved her horn at his throat. "Got it?" They stopped as another picture was taken with Marco grabbing her horn and actually pushing it up with Ponyhead grunting in pain.

"Oh I got it really good _princess,_ really good." Marco stepped out slowly as the final picture was of Ponyhead looking miffed that her intimidation didn't work.

As soon as Marco stepped out Star immediately grabbed him and took him out onto the dance floor spinning him around like a top. Star was smiling and yelling on the dance floor making Marco really happy for some reason to the point where he was getting caught up in it. Because of that he didn't notice when Ponyhead began dancing wildly and smacked into him pushing him over the edge with him grabbing onto the side at the last moment.

"Fall, fall ,fall." What shocked Marco the most about the chanter was he was one of the skeletons among the spikes.

"Whoa Marco I am so sorry but you need to be more careful here." Star came over and casually picked him up and put him on the dance floor.

"Oh it wasn't your fault, but maybe you should chastise Ponyhead about her reckless dancing." Marco shot a poisoned look in Ponyhead's direction making Star realize more was up to this image.

"What? Oh she just gets caught up in the wild dancing." Star leaned in close to Marco. "She can be a might bit crazy you see." Star pointed over to Ponyhead who leapt on top of a nearby dancer and began riding him.

"*niegh*Oh yeah you like that boy don't ya, you know you do. *neigh*" Marco and Star both looked over in concern as Ponyhead rode the guy hard.

"I wonder if that explains her threat of skewering me in the photo booth." Marco didn't realize he had said that out loud until Star started chuckling nervously.

"Yeah I should have expected that. She can be a might bit possessive but that's because she's somewhat protective over me; I think." Star turned towards Ponyhead who was dancing. "Say how about the Amethyst Arcade, I think Marco would like that much better."

"No way gurl. I. Am. Gettin. My. Dance. on."

"Oh come on you don't need to do that for me Star you are having…" Marco was shoved to the side as Ponyhead suddenly came barging through in a slight panic.

"You know what you're actually right, he might like it better let's go." Ponyhead opened up another portal with Marco looking on in suspicion as Star smiled a toothy grin.

"She's warming up to you." Star kicked Marco through leaping in after him.

As the portal closed the trio of men in uniforms appeared at the edge of the dance floor looking around as if trying to track prey in a wild hunt.

* * *

When Marco stood up after being kicked down by Star he looked up and began drooling in awe at what was going on around him. They had emerged into a gigantic glittering cavern filled with crystal of varying sizes with the largest on the ground being shaped in arcade games.

"So many VIDEO GAMES!" Marco threw up his hands in awe at the sprawl before him.

"I knew you would like it here." Ponyhead then whispered to herself. "This place is full of squares after all."

"Mehhh." Marco looked to see a bunch of living squares of various colors playing most of the games.

"I also like it here too." Star looked around in eagerness. "Oh, Lance Lance Revolution. That is perfect, you guys go play now." Star got behind the two shoving them to the game with the two smiling nervously as she shoved them.

"Ponyhead vs Earth Turd." The game spoke with Marco double taking.

"HEY!"

"Round one, JOUST!" The game started between Marco and Ponyhead.

The two got into it with Ponyhead throwing snipe comments at Marco with Marco so into it he didn't even acknowledge anyone as he jousted. The point of the game it seemed was to stab at your opponent with a lance until one was the victor which Marco seemed to catch onto real quick much to Ponyhead's chagrin. Star watched as the two jousted and told herself that the two it seemed were finally getting along.

"Excellent, you two are getting along just fine." Star patted their backs feeling sweat roll off of them. "Ehhh. I'll get you two some noce cool icicles to put on your sweaty gross backs." Star skipped off resisting the urge to leap on their warm bodies as the air in the arcade was rather cool for her reptilian self.

"Hey square, have you seen this head?" Ponyhead overheard words from a voice that she recognized and dropped the lance in shock allowing Marco to win.

"Yes, who's the turd now?"

"Still you." Ponyhead quickly retorted to Marco making him groan in annoyance.

"I think I'm next, but less trash talk please." A square came up nervously as a small crowd had joined up to watch the duo.

"Should I go for the pointy one or the really pointy one? Oh why are there so many choices." Star shivered slightly behind one of the squares ordering as Ponyhead came up.

"Um B-fly, I'm bored. I know thia other place we can go to so let's flip." Star took notice of Ponyhead's nervousness and suspected something was up but brushed it off for now.

"Alright, I'll just go get Marco real quick."

"Oh no no no no no. Marco went on ahead to save us a spot in the Mosh pit you see, yes he did." Ponyhead cut another portal open.

"Oh how sweet of him, always putting friends first." Star leapt through with Ponyhead looking a little guilty at Star's words as she followed through closing the portal behind her.

"Finish him!" The game spoke as Marco skewered his opponent who looked dejected.

"Don't worry man you're really good at this actually." The squared looked up smiling as Marco turned the now large crowd. "So who's next?" Everyone began raising their hands until they looked behind him scared. "*Sigh* Ponyhead if you are intimi…" Marco was interrupted when a large gloved hand rested on each shoulder making him go wide eyed and looked up to see a masked face staring at him.

"We need to talk boy." It spoke in a gravelly voice as Marco gulped in worry.

* * *

Meanwhile at a place that had the sign "The Scum Bucket" in front of it that was deep underwater with several what seemed to be gigantic connector tubes to other places Star was continuing the party with Ponyhead. The two were surfing onto of a crowd that was cheering on a rock band standing over the Mosh pit.

"Is this not a blast B-fly?!" Ponyhead seemed really into it while Star seemed somewhat into it.

"I would say so yes." 'Even though I don't really like these kinds of places.' Star thought to herself in nervousness at the crowd below and all around her. "I don't see Marco anywhere though."

"Pfffff. You got me gurl and I am way more fun then he ever could be." Ponyhead twirled a few times as Star got concerned fast.

"What are you talking about?"

"*Nervous laughter* Funny story you're gonna…"

"You abandoned Marco didn't you?!" Star spoke with an edge in her voice as she leapt off and out of the crowd despite the edge being a good 20 feet away.

"What, why are you so concerned about him even if that was the case." Ponyhead faced Star who now looked pissed.

"How could you abandon a bestie like that?"

"Gurl, last time I checked I was your Bestie and me and Earth Turd are not Besties." Ponyhead tried putting on an attitude but felt a little tinge of guilt again.

"I can have multiple best friends; unless of course if one is a friend ditching liar." Star focused her gaze at Ponyhead ina manner she learned from her father making guilt flood through Ponyhead.

"Wait, you actually care about him that much?" Ponyhead was met with a stern gaze from Star that answered the question without words needed. "*Sigh* Ok."

* * *

"We are gonna ask you one more time, WHERE IS SHE!?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know."

Marco was tied up in a dark corner of the Amethyst Arcade as the trio of figures questioned him relentlessly over Ponyhead's location.

"Not talking eh? What if I do this." One of the figures began turning a lamp on and off in front of Marco with the light blaring into Marco's eyes.

"Stop, that's extraordinarily annoying." Marco was actually putting on a show of how easily broken he was as he was afraid of what they might do if he didn't act broken already.

Star and Ponyhead came through a portal into the arcade looking around until they spotted Marco.

"There he is. Crystal Dagger…"

"Wait B-fly, it's too dangerous gurl. Hold out your hand." Ponyhead interrupted her to spit out her Dimensional scissors for Star. "I ain't gonna need them where I'm goin."

"Wait Pony." Star looked on as Ponyhead moved forward.

"Oh hey creeps, I heard you were lookin to ride with a pony. Well come and get me!" Ponyhead took off neighing as the figures went after her allowing Marco to free himself.

As Ponyhead began running Marco leapt up and flying kicked one of the guards summersaulting over him to stand in the way of the remaining two.

"You thought I was broken, but you were oh so wrong man." Marco leapt at them as Ponyhead, not wanting to be shown up flew back and scooped up Marco.

"Earth turd, let me go down heroically."

"I'm not letting you save me if have any other option." Marco quipped back as they flew through the arcade with the figures right behind them, including the one Marco kicked down.

The duo flew through the arcade with Ponyhead shooting lasers from her horn at various arcade games making them blow up. A dense green mist began forming from the smoke of the games blowing up forcing the guards to dodge debris and pick their way through the mist. This mist also got in the way of Ponyhead who, still carrying Marco, shot a beam up at a massive crystal on the ceiling that sent lasers everywhere causing destruction and mayhem. This got in their way so much that Ponyhead wound up smashing through a group of squares who formed a wall like that in Tetris with them actually pausing to make sure they got it right. The trio of guards, who were still blinded by the smoke, ran into the wall causing the groups to come crashing down into a giant heap. Ponyhead wound up skittering behind an arcade game with Marco in tow.

"Why did you try to help me earth turd, I thought you hated me."

"Whatever these guys are they are bad news so I thought I should interfere. And why did you suddenly pull a noble streak like that? I mean I don't know you well but that seems abnormal." Ponyhead sighed and slumped against the game.

"*Sigh*First off, my daddy doesn't like the stunts I have been pulling for the longest time and finally got sick enough of them to send be to *sniff* St. Olga's. *Thunder in background*"

"Wait, that reform school Star told me about. The one where they cut you up and put you back together." Marco seemed nervous as Ponyhead nodded in agreement. "Well I can understand that but that's a bit extreme even for you." Ponyhead snorted at him as if to say 'don't push your luck.'

"Second, B-fly is a rather sensitive gurl and I don't want her hanging with people who might mislead her like her ex Tom. She's faced enough trouble as is and should not have to put up with more." Marco looked into Ponyhead's eyes and saw sincere emotion behind them as he reached out a hand and placed it on her mane.

"I get Star has been through a lot given how she acts at times but if you are concerned to the point of protecting her it must be serious. Don't worry, I will look after Star in your sted as she is my friend whether you want me to or not." Though there was challenge in Marco's words Ponyhead smiled at him.

"*Sniff* Thanks, I actually forgot you were a turd there for a second." The emotional moment was interrupted when the trio of figure cleared away the arcade game and they found themselves cornered.

"So how long do you want to keep fighting?" Marco asked as Ponyhead got ready.

"As long as I can." Star seemed to leap in out of nowhere as well taking up a fighting stance.

"You have no idea how hard it was to catch up with you two even with my speed."

"Time to give it up cupcake." A very deep voice resounded through the room making both groups look up.

A Unicorn's head twice the size of a fully grown man emerged with a flowing blue mane and a small blue goatee. Star looked up in confusion with Ponyhead looking up in shame and Marco just standing there in shock as he tried taking it all in.

"King Ponyhead?" Star spoke in shock as Ponyhead floated forward.

"Oh hi daddy."

"Hello princess." Marco and Star turned to Ponyhead in shock.

"What's your dad doing here?"

"That's your dad?"

"Yes and… the gig is up for me B-fly. I'm being sent to St. Olga's." Ponyhead answered both of them with shocked reactions from both of them.

"You mean that place my Grandma tells me horror stories about? I thought that nobility had begun placing bans on that place?" Star wringed and rubbed her tail as Ponyhead sunk her head low.

"Well according to daddy they have reformed enough that people are giving it a by. So now I'm going to the slammer."

"It's a reform school now cupcake not jail, although it once was like that." King Ponyhead spoke quickly.

"So you came back for Marco even though it meant being sent to St. Olga's?" Star looked at Ponyhead wide eyed with Marco looking at her in respect now.

"Well he is your other bestie and I think he's capable of taking care of you. You got a brotha now as well as a sistah." Ponyhead came in close to Star with Marco being pulled into it somewhat unwillingly but relaxing after a few seconds.

"Alright princess, time to go." The figures stride forward with a set of reins that Ponyhead willingly submitted to and with head down was taken through a portal made by another one of the figures.

"Goodbye Ponyhead." Star called out softly.

"Good luck surviving princess prison." Marco called out as she was pulled through.

"Ah kids. At first you want them then you wish they weren't around when you have them." King Ponyhead talked to himself as he flew through the portal himself.

"Yay, my besties are besties." Star smiled at Marco who rubbed the back of his head.

"I wouldn't go that far, at least not yet." Marco spoke in a deadpan voice then went wide eyed. "Wait, we're stuck in another dimension!"

"No we're not. *Bleh*" Star pulled out the dimensional scissors snipping them a little. "Now we can go anywhere we want."

"Ok, way cool. So where do you want to go now in the whole cosmos?" Star smiled slyly at Marco's question.

* * *

'Well, tonight was a fun one.' Star thought as she finished off a third plate of nachos belching quietly as she and Marco watched TV. She looked at Marco and smiled as he smiled back and handed her a fourth plate which she snipped a few nachos from chewing them softly. 'And it finished perfectly.' She thought to herself as she snuggled into her oversized hoodie.


	4. School Spirit Pt 1

**Time for some school spirit, and perhaps something a whole lot more.**

"I like red, I like hoodies, so I bought a dozen of them."

"Same with me and these black dresses."

Star and Marco were talking about clothes as they went through school to their lockers when a group of kids passed by.

"Hey, it's the gothic magical Monster girl." Everyone immediately began waving to her and saying hi making Star blush a little.

"Hey there new friends, Hiiiii. Wow everyone's so friendly and cool despite the small amount of time I've been here. I wish my parents had sent me to earth a long time ago." Star smiled broadly making Marco smile at how happy she was.

"Well here comes our group now." Marco waves to a group of four walking in their direction.

"Hey Marco and Star." A short fat boy with red hair walked up to Star and pulled up his shirt to reveal a face drawn on his stomach making it talk. "Hey there, you look mighty beautiful today."

"Ferguson don't do that to her, she's a friend not a princess to be… actually go on ahead." A tall slim boy with dark skin and glasses speaking in some foreign accent retracted his correction.

"Alfonso man, just because she's a princess doesn't mean Ferguson should show her his belly." A boy with hair over his eyes with two "fangs" in his mouth and wearing a red scarf while carrying a keyboard guitar spoke up at the two quickly.

"Oh come on Oskar, let me go for her." Ferguson spoke up only to be poked in the belly by Star.

"Ohhhhhh, so squishy and cute. Ya know I could just eat you right up I could." Star leaned over flashing her sharp teeth and licking her lips making Ferguson pull his shirt back down and take a step back.

"I knew it, he's not ready for "that" level of relationship." A girl with a denim jacket and raven colored hair wearing an olive green beanie hat poked fun at Ferguson.

"Wait, that's what she meant Janna? I thought she was just gonna eat me." Ferguson sighed in relief.

"Well that makes more sense honestly." Janna smiled as Ferguson tensed up again as Star laughed.

"Oh I don't eat friends you see, but keep me fed as I go a might bit crazy when I don't get enough food." She smiled sweetly making everyone look at Marco for clarification if it was a joke.

"She does speak the truth on that one." Marco commented with everyone chuckling.

"Say, can you whip up some magic for us? As a sorceress in training I'd like to see some of that." Janna smiled with Alfonso grabbing her shoulder and holding her back.

"Don't go for it, she's scary enough as is." A bell began ringing making everyone except Janna sigh in relief, including Star.

"Saved by the bell, see you guys in class." Star skipped over to her locker to gather her things while the group filtered off with Marco pulling in to his locker next to Star.

"So, seems like you're getting along with them just fine."

"I like the people here, most of them seem nice." Marco still sensed a misgiving about Star but didn't want to push at it right now so he remained quiet. "Say, how did Oskar and Janna become your friends, you seem completely different from each other."

"Well the principle deeming me the safe kid assigned those two to hang with me a year ago so I could get them to "reform" as he would say. Honestly though their grades are bad at times, with Oskar being lazy and a slob, and Janna's sadistic streak they are a quasi-punk group in the school. But they are not bad people and I'm actually glad I met them as if I didn't I'm not sure if I would have broken out of a rash of insecurity." Star looked at Marco as he finished up and headed to class. "Well, see ya later." Star just nodded and waved smiling to herself at how she and Marco may have more in common then she originally thought.

* * *

"How could you have a bad grade in English? That is what you're speaking right?" Janna asked Star in a strange admiration as they sat on bleachers.

Star, Marco, Alfonzo, Oskar, and Janna were gathered in the Gymnasium for a pep rally with every other student in the school. There was a sign over the Gymnasiums interior saying Go Possums as Principle Skeeves was talking to everyone. Star did a strange sigh and chuckle mixture as she looked at her friends who had mixing looks of concern and admiration.

"Not exactly." Star reached up and took off her headband and flipped something under the cover. "Puhun vain Mewmanilla, tämä päänauha sallii minun puhua omalla kielelläsi." Star put her headband back on after flicking that thing again. "It's nice to be able to speak various languages without actually having to learn it right off the bat. As a bonus it also translates everyone around you for a sizable distance, not sure how far though." Star smiled at them as they looked at her in interest.

"You have no idea how cool that was or how beautiful your voice sounded just then. It would be perfect as a vocalist." Oskar looked at her in awe making Star blush a little.

"That would explain how I am able to understand the Spanish teacher far more easily now." Alfonzo thought aloud as Skeeves interrupted their bonding by trying to get everyone's attention.

"Attention people attention, coming up in a few days' time is our game between the Echo creek opossums and the Warriors of Silver Hill prep once again." This got a slight cheer from the crowd that seemed to not be what the principle wanted.

"Huh, kind of lackluster for some reason." Star commented as Skeeves continued on.

"And now Brittany Wong, who became head cheerleader on her own and not because her dad made a generous donation to the school." A rubber beach ball that was being bounced around hit him in the head with him with him just looking offended as a group of people began filing out into the Gymnasium.

"Go Echo Creek, Go Echo Creek, let's try not to get beat, Go Echo Creek, let's try not to get beat, Go Go Go Go yeah!" A group of male and female cheerleaders ran out holding a person on them like she was a queen and even did a stair fashion allowing her to walk down to Skeeves position, where she just took his microphone as if taking something from a servant.

"Let's make some noise if you love the awesome opossums." Brittany spoke in a peppy fashion and held up her hand as if she was a queen addressing a crowd, a very arrogant one.

Everyone began cheering in a much louder fashion with Skeeves looking sad now as Star began to really cheer alongside people.

"I love opossums, they carry their babies on their backs."

"Star you do realize she is talking about…"

"The football team, yes Marco. I love both!" Star smiled and blinked at him making him look around as the others chuckled.

"Well we are in for an uphill fight, they're going head to head with the Warriors." Janna spoke with the other three shivering slightly.

"The Warriors?" Star looked in confusion until Alfonzo answered her.

"Our rivals from Silver Hill Prep."

"Every year their team slaughters our guys." Marco spoke in a somber tone as thier teacher nearby spoke up.

"It's gonna be a bloodbath." She then munched on some fried chicken in an industrial sized container.

"That's terrible, we have to do something." Star spoke getting mixed reactions from people.

"Man, you don't need to get involved; at this point it's almost tradition." Oskar spoke in his laid back manner.

"I actually kind of like seeing the one way fight now a days; it's strangely artistic." Janna spoke smiling at the center of the Gymnasium.

"There's not much we can do honestly." Alfonzo spoke with his head on hand staring out into the air.

"Well you could join the spirit team; they are relentless when it comes to supporting the team." One of the boys did a split as they were watching. "Relentless, but I doubt Brittany would let you make much of an impact honestly." Marco gestured to Brittany who seemed to be going on about something.

"Yeah, she's kind of a bitch the more you get to know her." Oskar said leaning back strumming his keytar softly.

"I kind of got some of that from her. She holds herself like a queen who takes her subjects for granted; and I should know as my mom is the good kind of queen." Everyone nodded commenting on how cool that was still as Brittany went on.

"And now our new mascot, which I did not approve of, possum." Brittany gestured to her left and everyone looked to see a guy wearing a poorly made possum suit dancing onto the field.

"Woo hoo, yeah." The possum danced onto the field with the lower half of its suit dropping off revealing under-wear. "Alri... oh god no."

"What's Ferguson doing out there and where is the real possum? Did those jerk warriors steal it again." Marco got really heated about this with Star patting his back to calm him down while Alfonzo answered him putting his hand on Marco's shoulder.

"Sadly no, the real possum wasn't playing possum." A flashback occurs where a few people were crying over a dead possum in a cardboard box as a janitor stood impatiently waiting the chance to bury the possum.

"I hiss, I bite, I shake my tail alright." Ferguson danced on the floor below getting people really worked up now in a good way.

""Wait, that means he could be kidnapped by the warriors." Marco began panicking as Janna smiled at the idea.

"Well this could be interesting." Everyone shot Janna a look after she said that. "What, I didn't say it was good just interesting." Marco looked at everyone and got out a whistle he just happened to have on him.

"Alright people, we need to protect Ferguson so they don't steal him cause who knows what they will subject him to. Who's with me?" Marco raised the whistle in his hand with the other four saying yes with Janna chuckling in the process.

"Fortunately for all of you my mom had the captain of the guard Buff Frog to train me how to fight."

 _Flashback_

Buff Frog, wearing Mewman armor, is holding a stuffed animal as a four year old Star watches closely and listens carefully to him in some sort of training room.

"You know you have gotten them my little munchkin when you feel the neck snap." Buff Frog twists the stuffed animal until stuffing comes out from its neck area with a squeak.

"YAAAAAAAAAY!" Star hops up and down clapping her hands as another five year watches as well but is blurred out slightly.

 _Flashback over_

"Ohhhh, I was so cute." Star spoke with everyone looking at her either in shock or with glee.

"I can testament to her abilities." Marco spoke smiling as the group continues to stare at Star. "Well, no time to waste, let's get started." Marco smiled gathering everyone up to get going.

* * *

Marco looked around as he walked down the hallway glancing from side to side slipping through the shadows like one of those movie ninjas. He hid behind a water fountain looking out and around in cautious observance as he leapt doing a summersault over the water fountain and hid in a locker looking out from the upper bars in the surrounding area. He then leapt out and did a crawl fashion over to behind a trophy stand looking through the grass to see what might be out in the further hallway and slid down to the ground holding his head to his wrist.

"This is the red ninja calling in; all is clear in the hallway currently. Proceed."

"You know we can't hear you clearly when you do that Marco." Marco leapt up at seeing Janna standing right next to him and speaking to him.

"Janna, you just blew our cover."

"Yeah right, you may be good Marco but if they're serious they would have spotted you right off the bat." Janna smiled as Marco groaned.

"And here I thought this might actually work." Marco spoke as the Star, Oskar, Alfonzo, and Ferguson wearing his suit came from around the corner.

"Come on man, we will get an easy warning if they try to kidnap Ferguson." Oskar spoke playing his music a little. "He is pretty difficult to carry after all, and that is just a fact." Everyone nodded including Ferguson.

"I don't think I'm in any danger and this tail will help me get the ladies." He smiled turning to Star. "You think you could make this thing prehensile." He smiled as Star looked at him worried as she answered.

"I'm not sure how to do that or even if I should do that." Janna smiled and laughed at the look on Ferguson's face.

"Well come on guys, we got a ways to go and the streets back home are far more likely to have warriors prowling them then the school." Marco led the way with everyone following except for Star who stopped in front of the trophy stand.

"So many brave souls lost to this tragic conflict, just like in my parents fight against the Shadow Clause." Star looked into the stand where there were pictures of football players posing in triumph or friendship and blew some moisture onto the mirror making a frowny face. "*Sigh* I can't just stand aside and only help in protecting our banner man from being kidnaped to hit morale." Star looked over to see Oskar seemingly hitting on Ferguson by admiring and rubbing his tail with the rest of the group laughing, even Ferguson. "I must provide something more even if I can't do it officially due to that corrupted queen Brittany letting her kingdom fall apart without so much as a bat of her eyes." Star stood up with a determined look on her face. "I will do much more." She swore and then stepped forward while Oskar tried to kiss Ferguson.

"Dude no, I'm not into guys like you are." Ferguson held Oskar back chuckling slightly as the rest of the group laughed at Oskar's mock hitting on Ferguson.

"Come on man, you look so hot in the costume." Oskar moved in trying to mock kiss Ferguson with Janna actually tripping Ferguson so they did kiss.

"*Confused screaming* HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!?" Ferguson backed up with Oskar trying to apologize.

"Seriously man, I did not intend that. It was funny but I did not intend that." Marco, Star, and Alfonzo were chuckling while Janna was rolling on the floor laughing.

"That confirms it, you are a homo too man." Janna barely got that out as Marco tried getting everyone back on track.

"Alright people, we got a few hours of light left to get Ferguson home where he should be safe. Just in case though take this whistle." Marco pushed the whistle to Ferguson who was still reeling from the accidental kiss. "Blow it and yell stranger danger if any warriors attempt to pick you up."

"Is this really necessary Marco?" Ferguson backed up a step so Marco tried shoving it in his face.

"You need this for your own good man!" The two struggled while the rest of the group now looked on in concern.

"Um Marco, shouldn't we get him home?" Star asked in concern.

"Not until he takes this whistle so they can't trap us and take us by surprise." Marco continued to shove with Alfonzo now pulling them apart.

"Take them by surprise and trap them, yeah." Star thought to herself as Alfonzo pulled them apart and the group got moving again.

As the group struggled Janna glanced over at Star overhearing her musing to herself, something along the lines of trapping warriors; Janna brushed it off as they continued moving though.

* * *

Later that night, a strange mist seems to roll in on the football field that the sporting event is going to take place on. A silent figure glides onto the field wearing a massive oversized turquoise hoodie and begins waving something causing strange glows to emanate across the field as if an Aurora Borealis was moving across the school. This was noticed by a trio of night janitors who looked up to the sky seeing the effects going on near the field with despite it being shrouded in mist.

"Should we do something about this?"

"We should call the police but I say let's wait until we see what has actually happened here."

As they bickered a little the glowing stopped and the mist pulled back from the field looking like nothing had happened in the first place.

"Well, they won't believe us now if we did call them would they?" Two of them walked off while a third stared at the field.

"Why do those dang Martians always clean up their tracks so well?"


	5. School Spirit Pt 2

**Well, this took forever in updating. Life strikes at me with an overstuffed schedule and writers block making this a difficult feat to accomplish but I did it. Now that I have cleared out most of what was going on I should be resuming my chapter at least every 2 weeks but I am not sure. But know this, I will not give up on my story unless if I explicitly say so in one of my chapters.**

 **Spongebob narrator: And now, back to the story.**

The next day at school everyone was abuzz at the coming game tonight with many talking about the slaughter that was going to happen to their team. A few however were talking about one of the janitors saying Martians visited the football field last night in some mist and did something but that was mostly passed off as him just being crazy. Marco and his friends were busy guarding Ferguson as the school day began with everyone beginning to chafe under Marco's desire to secure Ferguson from potential kidnapping. Janna was walking down the hallway currently a bit miffed about Marco's continued crackdown and the fact that Star seemed to have disappeared for some reason.

"First Marco begins to go overboard, then my parents sit down for another "talk" about my future, and then Star disappears to who knows where. I am so miffed that…" Janna stopped mid monologue when she saw someone rummaging through the garbage with cats screeching in it. "Hello?" Janna moved over to the dumpster and looked in to see Star gathering up feral cats and putting them in some sort of cage. "Star, what are you doing?"

"Oh hi Janna." Star looked up smiling revealing she had three more cages with birds, squirrels, and butterflies in each. "I'm just preparing counter measures against the warriors of the Silver Hill. This is for my Kitty-kat offensive." Star smiled at Janna who looked concerned but curious. "Now if you will excuse me, I have work to do." Star leapt out running off with Janna stroking her chin in thought.

"Would Star seriously… no she's not that naïve. Then again it might be interesting to see what she does with those things with her magic involved." Janna smiled in thought as she walked on now eager for the evening's game and feeling a bit lighter in her step.

* * *

Evening had come and people were sitting in the bleachers of the football field ready for the game and anticipating it to be a one way fight. On one end of the field were the Echo creek possums who did look well trained and ready except for the fact that they were staring at the opposite side of the field in fear. On the other side appeared to be an endless hoard of six foot tall men who were built solidly of muscle and looked ready for a fight even to the point of growling and smacking heads together. It's not that the Possums were a bad team; it's just that the Silver hill warriors were just better in every way. Currently the cheering teams on each side were going at it with the echo creek cheering group doing far better then the Silver hill group strangely enough.

"We flip, we cheer, we shake our booties well yeah!" The possum's group cheered getting the crowd hyped up even though they knew they were probably gonna lose while Ferguson was dancing on the field.

"Yeah, we're the mighty possum, Warriors beware." Ferguson danced with his bottom half actually staying up the whole time.

As the cheering teams filed back in for a brief respite Ferguson went up to his friends who were all waiting there minus Star. Marco was the first to step in giving Ferguson some water which he promptly sprayed across his face.

"Well you did nicely, I think." Marco spoke with Oskar jumping in.

"Hey man, he had no instructions on what to do; frankly he's doing fantastically well." Oskar smiled as Alfonzo spoke up next.

"I'm just surprised no one tried to kidnap him, usually they're more aggressive than this." Marco knocked on some wood as Alfozno spoke.

"Don't tempt fate, we have no idea what could happen…" Star leapt in out of nowhere wearing armor and brandishing a large Tetsubo that looked too large for her to handle, hissing in eagerness smashing a bench. "… to us. Star what are you doing?" Star smiled at everyone with them now realizing her heart marks were now black skulls with blood red flames.

"Making ready for battle obviously; those warriors will not swipe another victory from us again!" She whipped her tail back and forth which now had a spiked ball and chain attached to it for added effect.

"Everyone went silent looking back and forth between each other until Marco stepped forward to Star putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Star… what did you do?"

"Oh I booby trapped the whole field so the possums could take down the Warriors, with my help in flanking of course." Star pointed to the field which everyone looked at in shock.

Only now did they notice a wide number of laser lines and pit fall coverings all over the field with what looked like crystal land mines scattered between them. Oskar was the first to react to seeing everything in the field.

"How did everyone miss that?" Alfonzo and Ferguson shrugged in fear as Janna looked on in delight.

"Star, you do not disappoint. This is going to be fun!" Janna pumped her fist looking on in eager anticipation as Marco turned to Star in horror.

"Star, this wasn't actually going to be a battle this was just a game. Everything we were saying was just a matter of speech and not literal words!" Star's look turned to confusion and turned to Janna.

"You saw me getting ready for this early today and several times thereafter, why didn't you stop me?" Everyone then turned to Janna who was now looking a little guilty.

"I didn't think Star was that naïve and if she was I really wanted to see what she came up with." Everyone's looks turned to horror when she said that with Marco looking pissed.

"JANNA, Star is an actual fighter with destructive magic; people could actually be hurt!" Janna turned to Marco angry now herself.

"Well I didn't see you noticing anything mister "safe kid" and "Star's Guide". I thought you would have known how to read Star better than that given how you've gone on about her in the past." Marco's face fell slightly as Janna went on. "But no you had to focus all your attention on Ferguson and drive us relentlessly when in the end they wouldn't even kidnap him!" Marco was still mad though and shoved his face in Janna's.

"That still doesn't excuse what you've done." They growled at each other until Alfonzo finally stepped in between the two.

"Guys, we have a bigger problem right now." As if to push his point home the whistle was blown for the players to get into positions with one of the mines activating blowing one of the warriors sky high.

He flew through the air looking like a comet until he crashed with everyone on both teams standing in shock for a minute until they started running in a blind panic. The people on the stadiums just sat there and watched sickened but curious to see what happened next. The group of friends looked on in shock with Star now actually gnawing on her tail a little in nervousness as she began panicking.

"Come on people, we have to do something!" Marco ran out onto the field with Alfonzo, Janna, and Ferguson following with Star standing there panicking and Oskar began playing battle music much to Marco's chagrin. "Oskar if you could just… you know what never mind!"

Star looked back and forth across the field in worry until she seemed to make a decision hefting up her Tetsubo while charging onto the field screaming a battle cry "Dlya nashego doma" and leapt to where she knew one particular pit was located.

The possums managed to get off the field relatively unscathed but the Warriors were faring pretty badly at the hands of Star's traps. One was sucked into some sort of black hole screaming in fear as he swirled into it like water swirled down a drain. Another two landed on a mine and were blown upwards only to be solidified in crystal about 10 feet in the air. The referee tripped while blowing his whistle and fell onto a section of the field that slowly pulled itself up releasing multiple giant butterflies, a few giant turquoise squirrels, a trio of flaming three eyed cats the size of buses, and one gigantic bird of prey plumed like a bird of paradise of some sort. The warriors scattered as the creatures leapt to attack them further setting off traps in the field that affected them.

Marco leapt in fly kicking a butterfly in the face and pulling on its antennae till it crashed on the ground in front of a trio of Warriors. Marco leapt up punching the creature in the eye before it had time to recover and repeated that maneuver several times until it seemed to shatter releasing ordinary butterflies across the field. As Marco smiled in triumph one of the squirrels leapt out and grabbed him in its jaws shaking him around like a toy until it froze dropping Marco as it squealed in pain. It turned in anger on its next opponent until it was sprayed in the eyes by something causing it to fall backwards onto one of the mines exploding into a group of squirrels that ran off. Marco looked up in shock to see Janna standing there with a Taser and pepper spray smiling at the scattering squirrels.

"Well no time to lay about man, let's get moving." Janna moved off with Marco actually smiling despite everything and got back up.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo was hanging onto the back of one of the squirrels in a blind panic as it tried to buck him off unsuccessfully. As he held on in a blind panic questioning why he charged out onto the field in the first place two butterflies converged on his location and tried attacking him but missed and hit the squirrel causing all three of the creatures to fight each other until they exploded into their basic forms. Alfonzo looked around in shock as he landed relatively unharmed from the experience and raised his hands in triumph until a cat scooped him up and swallowed him in one gulp licking its lips.

Ferguson was running around with no idea of what to do until he bumped into a trio of warriors in their own panic with both sides just staring at each other. The warriors, hearing a screech from behind them, run in Ferguson's direction making him run and blow his whistle in a panic.

"Stranger danger, STRANGER DANGER!"

He ran in a blind panic until he ran through a laser trip wire causing the ground to catapult him into the air flying over the field. At the same time the Possums cheering squad was running for their lives as Brittany pushed them aside yelling something about her being too popular to die. Ironically she ran into a mine just in everyone's path shooting her through the air to be caught in one of the cat's mouths and it spat her aside into another mine that glued her to the ground in glitter. The cat then turned to the rest of the cheering squad with the boys fainting in fear with the cheerleaders holding onto each other.

"I'm going to miss you Stacy."

"I'm going to miss you too Sabrina."

As they cowered in fear Ferguson came flying through the air falling on the cat's face making it yowl in a challenge as it clawed the air. Ferguson, caught in a desperate situation with no way out, leapt onto the cats back and forced it to run into one of the pits impaling it on several spikes. The resulting explosion pushed him and the cats it was made out of out of the pit in the cheer squad's direction. The cats piled onto the boys while Ferguson inadvertently took up a heroic pose swaying slightly in front of the girls. The girls, seeing another mine go off behind him outlining his figure, immediately imprint that he was a hero who rescued them and rushed to him clinging on in fear as the madness unfurled around them. Ferguson, dazed from the cat attack still, immediately began leading people off of the field in a surprisingly good fashion.

"Alright girls, grab the boys and let's get out of here before another creature picks up our scent."

In another part of the field Star was duel wielding her Tetsubo and wand as she stepped out waiting for the creatures to notice her which they did rather quickly. Four Butterflies attacked at once with Star smashing one with her weapon and blasting another with her wand's magic leaping into the air. The one that was blasted dissolved into Butterflies while the hit one smashed into the ground leaving a small crater. The other two slammed into each other confusing the two as Star smashed down on both of them at the same time into the ground. She then raised her wand and yelled "Sparkle Glitter Nuclear Doom!" making a mushroom cloud of magic that dissolved the three butterflies and detonated traps across half the field.

As she did this the remaining warriors stopped at the edge of the field and watched her smash them aside and looked at each other. As they stood there one of the janitors who was watching the game stopped running to see what was going on next to them and recognized the colors.

"It's them; it's the Martians who did this to the field! They wanted to make a spectacle for their own entertainment!" The Warriors, not exactly thinking straight, actually listened to the janitor's rant and turned towards the lizard girl in the field with anger in their eyes.

Marco fought with fierce determination as a pair of squirrels cornered him and Janna snarling with foam at their mouths. Marco and Janna looked at each other and seemed to exchange information with eye contact and leapt at the squirrels. Unfortunately, no information seemed to be exchanged as they were both caught in seconds with the squirrels chewing on them. Janna, thinking fast, pushed her Taser into the squirrels tonsil making to not only spit her out but vomit in the direction of the other squirrel after a few seconds. Splattering into the creatures eyes it screamed in agony letting Marco out to kick the squirrel in the groin making it fall on the other squirrel. Weakened from the electric attack to its tonsil it was unable to stand as the other one fell on it and rolled them both into a pit with some sort of horror in it. The squirrels they were made out of ran away in fear as Marco and Janna looked at each other in exhaustion.

"We need to work on communication don't we?" Marco asked in a tired voice.

"Yeah, it'll be good for both fights like this and ordinary life in avoiding disasters." As Janna finished the heard a snarling from nearby and looked up to see one of the cats closing in on them.

"Have at thee foul beast!" Janna and Marco looked up in shock as Ferguson leaped down from the field goal post with some sort of hammer.

The cat looked up in confusion as he fell slamming the hammer down on one of the cat's hind feet making it leap up on its hind legs screaming like a human would. Holding its foot in pain it leapt on one foot until it tripped and fell onto a mine with it exploding and making the cat dissolve into the cats that formed it revealing Alfonzo who had actually been eaten by the cat. He then fell over shivering while Ferguson stood heroically with the cheerleaders surrounding him and Marco and Janna looking on in confusion.

"Well, he did finally get attention from the ladies. Way to go man." Janna begrudgingly gave him respect as Marco just watched unsure of what had just happened.

Their attention was once more grabbed as the bird from earlier came swooping in from above slamming two butterflies into the ground making them dissolve. It let out a mighty screech of triumph as it held its wings wide looking down and the group at first challengingly but then seemed to calm down suddenly. As the groups looked on in confusion Oskar appeared from over its shoulder playing his keytar while smiling and spoke to them.

"All it took was music to sooth the savage soul of this beautiful creature." He smiled as Marco responded.

"How did you tame that… you know what, I've had enough for tonight. Let's just finish off what's left of them and go home." Marco walked away with his hands in the air while Janna move up to Ferguson and the girls.

"Say, where did you get that hammer?" Ferguson smiled wielding it as if it was weightless.

"I actually found it in one of the traps; must be magic because it weighs next to nothing. Or I'm just that strong." Ferguson tried flexing am muscle and failed making the girls giggle in a good natured way as Janna moved over to Alfonzo.

"Come on man, let's go."

"I'm dead is what I am." Janna blinked in confusion as he spoke.

"No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"Come on get up."

"I don't feel fine."

"*Grrr* Stop being such a baby."

"I can't walk."

"You're getting up and liking it."

"I feel unhappy, I feel unhap-(Annoyed thwack)." Alfonzo stood up after Janna smacked him and brushed himself off looking dazed. "Thank you, getting eaten by a cat must have put me in shock." Janna raised her eyebrow in respect.

"Well let's get going, I think Star is still fighting over there." Janna pointed to a large cloud of some sort of pink mist.

* * *

"Mega Narwhal Blast!" Star launched another wand attack into a pair of squirrels making them both collapse into the squirrels they were made of.

A final Butterfly came at her from behind trying to use the pink mist to strike at Star but did not account for the fact that it did not conceal noise. Star easily whipped her tail and smashed the creature across the face making it fall allowing Star to blast it with her wand. As Star looked through the mist trying to see opponents anywhere a rock came flying out of the mist hitting her square in the forehead enough to make her skull crack. With a muffled ow Star let the wound heal while suddenly realizing there were multiple human shaped figures coming at her.

"Martian!"

"We are not your toys!" Star saw it was the Warriros coming out of the mist.

"Guys I was trying to help you; yes I did set those up but it was a lack of…" Star had to block more rocks as people began throwing things at her.

"Go home!"

"Leave us alone!"

"Damn otherworlders!"

"Disgusting!"

"Monstrous!"

"Bloody Mudblood!" This insult made Star's blood run cold.

That was an insult many Mewmans used on half breeds like herself so how would anyone here know of that? Star tried to get here bearings but the Pink mist made it very difficult to do so or be sure what she saw was actually really there. Figures moved through the mist throwing things at her and some of them did look like warriors but others looked more familiar. People in peasant's garb or the new style mass produced linen shirts and frocks from the newly built factories in her kingdom. Were those people holding rolled up newspapers or unlit torches? Star began breathing rapidly as she tried to shiled herself from the barrage that was getting more intense by the second as she called out to everyone.

"I did something wrong but please let me fix this!" Star was hyperventilating now which only got worse when she saw a familiar figure emerge from the mist close to her.

"Go back to your slime pool girl!" An aged man with murder in his eyes wearing what appeared to be a linen frock wielding what seemed to be a pitchfork approached Star ready to impale her with it.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Star raised her wand and blasted a sickly green shot from it to the janitor who dropped his mop in fear as he was blasted back.


	6. School Spirit Pt 3

**Held in suspense? Good, BACK TO THE ACTION!**

Marco was walking over to the Mist where Star was fighting feeling pretty good about everything all things considered until the mist began to have green flashes in it with terrified screams of people from within it. Marco held up his hand making his friends stop as the mist continued to swirl and began changing color to a poison green with Janna commenting first.

"Well that can't be good." As she said that a blast of energy left the mist and flew overhead striking the bleachers.

As it struck the bleachers they saw it focused on their teacher, Mrs. Skullnick, and as it struck her she seemed to twist and contort. Even from their long distance they could see her skin go green, her hair stand up in Mohawk fashion, grow tusks, and just seemed to turn into some sort of mythical monster. She then began to dance around screaming something that they guessed were along the lines of, "Aaaaah, I'm hideous."

Alfonzo asked in a slow and cautious fashion, "What just happened to our teacher?"

"I think she was just turned into a Troll." Janna replied and added on "Honestly though, it's an improvement." The group agreed with her while more balls of green magic streamed out of the mist.

One struck a group of Teenagers giving them horrific acne in a matter of seconds which sent them into a panic. Another struck a goal post on the field making it twist into some sort of cage that trapped a few loose people inside of it. Brittany Wong had just gotten herself out of the glitter glue only to be struck by a blast that made her bald leaving her screeching. One final blast rocketed towards the football team making them grow hair all over their bodies in a matter of seconds similar to a Sasquatch.

"WHAT THE HELL MAN!" Oskar screamed with the bird he was on leaping up into the sky to get away from the scary flashing lights.

Ferguson tried taking charge again by slamming his hammer into the ground to provide blockage from the blasts only to have it be blasted and turned into dust. "TAKE COVER!" he screamed trying to find something to hide behind as everyone did the same thing. Marco began moving for the mist when Alfonzo grabbed his arm and pulled him back shaking his head no.

"I can't just leave Star in there!" Marco wrestled free and charged into the mist with his mind racing at a mile a minute. 'Don't worry Star, I will help you.'

As Marco charged in everyone who was taking cover noticed the Warriors running out of the mist to their bus which they boarded with an almost cartoonish fast speed as the bus driver started it up. The bus took off so fast that three of the Warriors were hanging on for dear life as the bus speed away from the chaos that was the football field. Marco noticed these out of the corner of his eye as he tried going through the mist waving it aside as best he could to try and see through. After a little while in pushing forward however Marco began having trouble breathing as the air seemed to burn his throat and lungs like acid was being poured down it. Marco bravely took off his hoodie and wrapped it around his nose and mouth and pushed deeper into the mist having no idea what was happening to Star but imagining the worst.

As he pushed further in he was stopped by what appeared to be someone lying on the ground prompting him to rush over and help. When he got there Marco saw one of the Janitors with his clothes smoldering and a broken mop next to him while muttering something about lizard folk Martians. Marco listened for only a moment but put enough pieces together to come to a horrific conclusion and rushed off to find Star as he figured the janitor would be ok. Marco pushed through the mist only a few feet further and finally found Star looking around with her eyes cat-eyed and yellow but now with streaks of red through them. Her face… he could only describe as something he once saw in the eyes of a wounded feral dog he found when he was 9 that bit him when he tried to help it; a primal fear but this face was lit up by a sickly toxic green from her wand. Star also seemed to be surrounded by rocks and debris that seemed to have been thrown at her by several someone's; whether in defense or an offensive measure Marco could not tell. As Marco gaped in horror at having his suspicions confirmed Star noticed him and raised her wand to him quickly and shouted "LEAVE ME ALONE!" and shot him.

Marco, reacting fast, dodged the blast and kept moving in case if Star shot him again, which she did in rapid succession. Marco did a double flip and power slide under Star's blasts and hid in some mist waiting for the blasts to die down. As they did Marco stepped out waiting for Star to notice him while calling out to her.

"Star, it's ok. No one is going to hurt you now. It's me Marco, your Bestie!"

Marco waited ready to bolt as Star turned towards him aiming her wand but held fire. They stood there looking at each other for what felt like eternity until Star's wand slowly lowered the light going away from it to be replaced by its normal color. Star's eyes changed from the horrifying reddish yellow cat slit back to its normal green color and shape with Star blinking rapidly. Marco began to cautiously step forward as Star looked around with a look of sickened horror in her eyes as they fell on something just to Marco's left. Marco looked and saw the body of the janitor that he knew was alright but didn't seem to be moving or making any sounds now.

"I did this." Marco looked at Star who was backing away from him. "I did this."

"Star it's alright. Everything is…"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Star turned and bolted away from him through the now thinning mist and leapt over the 8 foot high chain link fence.

"Star wait!" Marco started forward but stopped as he saw Star running on all fours at a speed that would outpace a professional cyclist.

As Marco stood there he heard cheering from behind him which prompted him to turn around and see the Possums and the rest of the school cheering wildly. Marco gaped in shock again until Janna and Alfonzo made it to him at long last with the mist finally gone.

"Why are they cheering?" Marco turned to Janna who was smiling slyly as she answered him.

"The Warriors ran away forfeiting the game to us. We won for the first time ever thanks to Star. So what if there were some injuries and that last trap caused some bad chaos, they succeeded with a bang." Janna pumped her fist as Alfonzo turned to Marco with a smile on his face.

"Say what happened to Star anyways? People want to give her a thank you party." Alfonzo and Janna's faces fell when they saw Marco's expression. "This is bad isn't it?" Alfonzo guessed as Marco turned at looked where Star had run.

"That green mist wasn't a trap that was Star." The two gasped at him as Marco turned around. "I don't know why she did it but I know she was scared beyond rational thought. I'm going after her; and DON'T tell anyone about this." Marco ran off as the two looked on with Marco climbing the fence with ease and hitting the ground running.

"So um, what do we tell everyone?" Alfonso said to Janna as they turned back to the festivities.

"Just tell them Star was knocked out by the action and Marco had to take her home. Now let's have some fun. If Marco needs our help, he'll call us."

* * *

Marco raced back home guessing that Star would go there and called Toffee via the mirror that he got from him to find out what just happened. Marco slowed down to get a more even breath as the mirror rang, 'Wow magic was weird' Marco thought, and finally Toffee picked up.

"Hello there… Marco?" Toffee answered his mirror blinking in surprise at Marco. "Moon come here, I think we may have a problem." A bit of shuffling on the other side of the call and Moon appeared next to Toffee. "Ok Marco, tell us what happened." Marco blinked in shock at the fact that Toffee caught on so quick to what was going on and proceeded to explain what happened in detail as they he traveled home.

"… so now Star has run off and hidden herself which is why I have called you. I need to know how to comfort Star and make her feel alright and for another matter I need to know what could have possessed Star to do this." Marco finally stopped talking with Moon and Toffee looking shocked with the look slowly being replaced with sadness.

Moon turned towards Toffee and began speaking, "I thought the doctor said she was good?"

Toffee turned back to Moon, "She is in a different world with magic affecting her in a very stressful situation while her vision was blocked by mist and people were attacking her. Given how young she was when she experienced it I'm not surprised that it could come back in a stressful enough situation." Toffee hugged Moon close as Moon began crying and Toffee turned back to Marco. "Marco, the story I am about to tell you should not be shared with anyone if you wish to live. Understand?" Toffee's blank expression somehow made the threat even more terrifying then any rage would especially with what had just happened to Star. Marco nodded which prompted Toffee to continue, "Well it happened when Star was only 5 years old…"

* * *

Star was a five year old girl wearing a turquoise dress that matched her eyes with twin pig tails that made her look adorable as she ran down the street.

 _"We were in a town that was in decline in Mewni as people moved away to find work or moved into the new style "duns" which were the new make of farming village we were introducing. We had gone there to help bring life to the town with the discovery of a vein of coal in the area and wanted to help set the mine up."_

Star ran down the street waving at people who gave Star various reactions with many being pleasant, a few outright friendly, and some just ignoring her. Star seemed to hear a loud bustling noise of many people shouting and turned down an alley way to investigate with a royal guard stopping her short shaking his head no and pointed back to where they had come from.

 _"We decided to bring Star along to see more of the kingdom as she had learned much about the kingdom but never actually had seen much of it aside from the area surrounding the castle. Of course we forgot that Star, when curious, will find a way to get past guards and see what she wants to see."_

Star sighed seemingly turning to go back but then ran right through the guards legs knocking him down into a puddle making the surrounding folk laugh as Star bolted down the alley on all fours. After zipping through losing the guard she went towards the noise and noticed a large crowd of people who appeared to be very angry with something. They were shouting at a man who seemed to be holding a giant doll that looked like her uncle Buff Frog poorly made of Straw which he seemed to be shaking around a lot. Star looked on in wonder until he tied it to a post and set it on fire with everyone cheering at that.

 _"Of course, we had also failed to take into account that people would blame something other than just "changing times" for this towns decline. Most of people who had accepted Monsters as equals had left the town at this point and while many were neutral to this, that still left a far too large portion of the populace who would blame Monsters for their problem's like they had done in the past." Marco nodded knowing the prejudice that people could suffer for being different._

Star stood there slowly becoming scared at the vicious and bloodthirsty tone the crowd was taking on beginning to back away, but not fast enough. One of the members of the crowd noticed Star with her Mewni marks and pointed her out to everyone screaming something about an unholy hybrid amongst them. The crowd turned towards her with the man who had been shaking the giant straw doll picking up a pitchfork laying nearby and running at Star with many of the people following him. Star turned and ran trying to lose them but only ripped and muddied up her dress in the process with the crowd keeping pace with her. As she ran many started throwing stones, bricks, knives, wood chunks, refuse, or even manure at her trying to slow her down.

 _"And for many people a half Monster half Mewman being was an unholy abomination on what was the natural order, not even deserving to exist. That much hatred combined with the stress of a dying town resulted in them not wanting help rebuilding, they wanted revenge. And Star was their outlet for rage."_

Star made it to the main square with her parents looking at her cross with the guard she had ditched but their expressions turned to horror as they saw the crowd chasing her. A knife that was thrown managed to pierce Star's spine making her legs give out causing her to scrape up her body as she slid to a stop. A cheer went up from the crowd behind her only to be silenced by a blast of energy going over Stars head from her mother who had gone Butterfly mode to protect her daughter from the angry crowd. As Star looked up more royal guards poured in, Mewman and Monster, to protect Star and beat down the rioters. Toffee came up alongside Star and pulled the knife out of her back picking her up and holding her close whispering calming words to her.

 _"We were lucky she had my healing capabilities from birth because even with Moon's magic she may never have walked again. The guards and Moon had to kill a total of five people and beat many more before the mob was pacified. If Star had not made it to us I have no doubt they would have killed her." A tear slid down Toffee's face as he continued with Moon now sobbing into his shoulder. "And when we finally brought the crowd down and they pointed out the one who had roused them up in the first place he had the gall to say to us "Your child is an abomination and never should have been born. I was doing my duty as a true Mewman putting her down." We dragged him away and he stood trial for attempted murder and treason as well as inciting violence and terrorism. He was hanged but the damage to our daughter was already done. For years we tried to help her and we thought we had succeeded, but it seems she still has PTSD from the incident."_

* * *

Marco had stopped walking and looked at them in horror at hearing about what had happened. He got being excluded from groups or bullied by people for being different; but outright being lynched because people thought she was an abomination that never should have existed? Marco felt tears on his face as the parent sobbed over old wounds torn open. No wonder Star was scared like a frightened animal back there, she genuinely believed she would have to fight for her life at any moment simply because of what she was. But with that news Marco grew calm inside knowing exactly what he needed to do.

"I will find Star and calm her down. You do not need to worry because I will help her." Marco looked at them in determination as he began running again.

Moon looked up through a tear streaked face, "Thank you so much Marco, *sniff* I have no idea what we would do without you." Moon smiled with Toffee following along and speaking next.

"We would come over immediately but we can't just leap dimensions as we have a kingdom to run. But we will come over at our first free time. We promise you that." Toffee then hung up allowing Marco to get home faster.

* * *

Marco stood outside Star's room taking deep breath after deep breath trying to prepare himself for seeing Star. It wasn't that he didn't know what to do; it's that he still wasn't sure on how to do it and honestly he didn't want to leave Star alone for even the time it would take to come up with an answer. He knocked on the door, he had confirmed Star was home, and waited for Star to respond for a few seconds before calling out.

"Star its Marco, I'm coming in." Marco opened the door to see what appeared to be an army of stuffed animals surrounding Stars bed which she had built up into a child's pillow fort covered with blankets.

"Star is not here right now, she is in blanket land." Star answered Marco from inside of the fort as Marco stepped forward.

He made his way carefully around the stuffed animals, he had no idea what would happen if he touched one, and made it to the pillow fort. He looked around the outside for a few minutes while talking to Star to try and calm her down and let him in.

"Star, you didn't know any better when you set up the traps and animals to help or team. That was my fault for not noticing and Janna's fault for not stepping in when she did notice something; which I will deal with when we meet again." Marco fumed for a second before returning to Star. "The Warriors attacking you was undeserved and all you were doing was defending yourself from them. Believe it or not our school benefited from all this including our group of friends in particular. Ferguson is now popular with the ladies for being a hero, Oskar now has a mythic bird pet of some sort, and we actually won the match when the Warriors fled the scene; oh and Brittany went bald as a bonus." He heard Star giggle from inside of the fort.

"Now, will you let me in so I can just… be there for you?" After a long silence one of the pillows opened allowing Marco in so he could scotch up next to Star. "See isn't that better?" Marco looked at Star in the dim light who wasn't even crying anymore but staring blankly into space. "Star, I know what happened when you were five. Your parents told me when I called asking what I could do for you. You can't help it when things spiral out of control but I can help you, my parents can, your parents can, and our friends can. You just need to let us help you not let this bring you down." Marco held Star close to him with her head slowly turning to look at him with big green eyes and began speaking.

"I saw it all again, I saw him coming at me with a pitchfork eager to finish what he had started from beyond the grave. I just wanted to be left alone but they wouldn't. Do you know what it's like to be hated by your own people?" Star looked at him with big eyes while he responded.

"The worst that has happened to me is being called a Wetback or a Border Rat since I am Hispanic which is nothing compared to you, but yeah." Star blinked in shock as she realized Marco knew what she was going through on a personal level through past experiences. "Some kids were even told to be mean to me and harass me simply because I was born this way so, I guess I do know what you are going through." Star latched onto him with Marco holding her close.

They sat there for an unknown amount of time until Star calmed down allowing Marco to get her ready for bed. It passed by uneventfully as Star showered and got into bed with her heater ready after eating some of Marco's nachos which he specially prepared for her. As he had finished preparing for bed however and was about to leave Star grabbed his hand looking up at him big eyed and vulnerable.

"Can you sleep with me tonight? I… I might have nightmares again like I once did." Marco sighed and nodded getting into bed with her.

As he did so Star squirmed until she had his arms wrapped around her and she was hugging onto him. Marco held her close as he felt her breathing go shallow and steady as Star drifted off to sleep holding onto him. Marco laid there for a while just breathing in Star's smell and listening to her breath feeling calm and protective. Then, as if by instinct, he reached over to a hair brush on the nightstand that looked familiar and began brushing Star's hair. Star smiled and mumbled happily in her sleep and she snuggled closer to him if that was even possible making Marco smile. He just laid there brushing her hair until before he knew it, he had fallen asleep too.

* * *

An alarm clock began beeping making Marco blink his eyes open groggily reaching over and hitting the alarm clock, or whatever it was in Star's room. He stretched as best he could and looked at the still sleeping Star feeling very refreshed from last night's sleep. He smiled at Star's messed up sleeping face with drool coming from her mouth and pulled back the covers to try and get up but froze when he saw Moon, Toffee, Angie, and Raphael coming into Star's room. They looked at him in surprise as Marco sat there like a deer in the headlights thinking of something to say with Angie beating him to it.

"So… did last night turn out ok despite what happened?" Angie smiled with the other three adults looking concerned.

"Well, yeah actually. Star didn't even have nightmares like she was afraid of having." Marco smiled as Star decided now was a good time to wake up. 'No no no no NO NOOOOO!' Marco thought in panic as Star got up stretching slightly.

"*YAWN* Thank you for comforting me last night Marco, I really needed that." Star smiled at Marco dazed from sleep until she realized that both their parents were in the room. Star's eyes went wide and she looked at Marco nervously with Marco not really sure what to do either until the four adults started laughing. As the blinked in confusion Moon was the first one to answer.

"We know you are afraid we would interpret you two doing "that" but me and Toffee have undergone similar misunderstandings in the past so no need to worry." Marco and Star calmed down slightly as the parents finally brought themselves down from laughing.

"I'm sorry but we couldn't help it." Raphael spoke with laughter still in his voice. "You should have seen your faces." Marco and Star both went red faced as the parents finished up laughing with Toffee speaking next.

"Star, we came here to insure that you are alright but judging from what has transpired you seem to be in good hands. We will stick around for breakfast but unfortunately we have to go. We can come back the day after tomorrow if you need us too." Toffee raised his eyebrow at Star who blinked deep in thought and then smiled.

"It's ok dad, I think I'm alright." She grabbed onto Marco. "I have him to help me as well." Toffee raised an eyebrow at Marco who began blushing and sweating under his gaze for some reason.

"Well, be sure to have her back by 9 pm and in the same condition you found her." Marco and Star gaped at Toffee as he laughed again. "Just kidding you two, now let's have breakfast; most important meal of the day after all." Marco smiled as he got up to get ready for breakfast turning to Star and speaking to her.

"Your parents are really cool Star. I think I'm gonna enjoy it when they come over again." Star looked at him wide eyed and confused as she answered.

"Cool?! Coooooool?" Star spoke as if the words were alien to her as she got ready for the day.

 **WOW that episode got dark towards the end. You know you made a good tragedy chapter when even the author gets wet eyes while writing it. At least it has a happy ending.**

 **Well next chapter is far less dark, I need breaks from something that intense, so look for it as it will be coming soon.**

 **Also feel free to leave constructive criticism as this is only my third piece of work and miles to go before I master writing. And do take a look** **at "Star vs the forces of Mewni (AU)" by 2000wires. I recommend this simply because I am intrigued by this work and for a first piece it is amazing so far. Do give them some love will you.**

 **This is the Wandering Hippie, wondering what the bloody ell I'm gonna do next.**


	7. Monster Arm Pt 1

Star and Marco were at school talking about everyday things when suddenly Marco struck a pose leaning against a locker and gave a "cool look" past Star.

"Hey Jackie, how's it hanging?" Marco spoke smiling as a girl pulled up on her skateboard.

"Just fine Marco, and how are you two hanging?" Jackie returned the question giving them a laid back smile as she stopped next to them. Jackie was a girl around their age with tan skin spotted with freckles, turquoise colored eyes, and platinum blond hair with a streak of turquoise through it. She was wearing jean shorts, knee high socks, and a green and white shirt with a sea shell on a string around her neck. Currently she was also wearing a skater's helmet and was standing on her skateboard.

"Oh just fine." Star answered her smiling right back as Marco seemed ready to ask Jackie a question.

"Say Jackie, would you like to come to my Tung su do tournament tomorrow? You know if you're free that is." Marco smiled at Jackie with a slight bead of sweat near his hairline. Jackie replied to Marco with interest in her voice.

"*chuckle* Oh course I would be willing to come Marco, I've always wanted to see one of those tournaments. I'm also surprised you haven't invited me earlier honestly." Jackie smiled as Marco blinked in confusion. "Well I have to go now, sorry I can't stick around. See you guys later." Jackie skated off with Star waving at her.

"Goodbye Jackie, see you around." Star stopped and looked at Marco smiling in Jackie's direction and punched his arm slightly. "Ohhh, I need to fix you up with her." Star smiled as Marco chuckled and shifted back to normal position.

"A year ago I would've agreed with you if you were good at matchmaking, which I have no idea if you are good at that." Marco looked at Star questioningly as Star's face dropped slightly. "But now I'm good, I used to have a 23 step plan to get with her but after some hard thinking and hard work I am now on step 21. Of course I skipped quite a few steps in the process." Marco smiled as Star looked at him confused.

"I usually don't like going out in public but even I know that what you had there is extreme for getting love." Star pointed this out with Marco sighing and nodding his head in agreement.

"I was a very different person at one point Star but now I'm over it." Marco took a brave pose but slammed his arm into the locker making him curse silently under his breath with Star giggling. "Ok then, how would you get with a person you liked?" Marco turned on Star making her face fall.

"I'd… rather not like to talk about it." Marco heard the tone of voice and patted Star's back smiling at her.

"It's cool man, it's all cool. Now, let's going as dad is making tacos tonight; and I do mean real ones not what Americans think are tacos." Star smiled at the prospect of food and the duo headed home.

* * *

"Can't we have a normal taco night?!" Marco shouted in frustration as he dodged another attack from a Forest Barbarian trying to grapple him.

He and Star were fighting Mavis and her minions again while his parents were just sitting in lawn chairs watching like it was a movie. 'Couldn't they at least call the police?' Marco thought to himself as he dodged a short fat Barbarian tripping him up and making him fall in the mud. Star shot a hail of crystals that bedazzled two of the fighters making them stiff and itchy so they were forced to scratch the crystals off. Marco then went head to head with three barbarians standing on top of each other like kids wearing an adult trench coat would and poked the eyes of the bottom one. He expected them to topple over onto another barbarian behind them but the top two leapt on top of Marco pinning him down.

"Star, a little help." Marco used his feet to knock down another barbarian approaching him but he knew that he would not last long at this rate.

"Don't worry Marco, _'Sonic Honey Bee swarm!'_ " Star shot out a massive swarm of multi-colored bees that swept through the whole battlefield attacking the barbarians.

Marco got free only to be plucked up by Dumnorix who looked pissed swatting off several bees and covered in bee stings. He then grabbed Marco's head with one hand as Marco tried to kick and punch at him with the same effect one would at hitting a tree and smiled at the others that were still standing.

"You know how I said I could crush a man's skull with one hand? Well, how's this for…" He did not finish however as Jalapeño juice sprayed into his eyes making him scream in agony and dropping Marco. Marco looked up as he fell to see Angie holding a squirt gun with an angry look on her face. She walked up to Dumnorix and pulled him down so his face was at her level.

"I'm just fine with you giving Marco a work out, but you do NOT go too far. You got that?" Dumnorix nodded numbly as Angie walked over and sat back down with the other barbarians laughing at him except for Mavis.

"What is wrong with you!? Beat her down as well!" Mavis drew her sword and charged Marco swinging it in a figure eight fashion to test him.

Marco deflected the blade easily and hit Mavis in the funny bone and on the shine simultaneously dropping her like a sack of potatoes.

"*Inhale* aaaaaah *Inhale* ahhhhhh." Mavis laid on the ground holding her arm and leg while trying to move as little as possible.

Star smiled at how good they were against these guys and shot a mega Narwhal blast at Selene who was trying to sneak up on her. Selene was counting on that however and leapt on one of the Narwhals to ride it over to Marco using the Narwhal to ram Marco to the ground and stamp her foot down hard on his elbow almost making it bend the wrong way with a noticeable crack. Marco screamed in a way that could be heard for nearly a mile around with random people passing by look towards their house in worry.

"Ha, how's this for dirty figh…" Selene didn't finish her taunt before Star blasted her with a spell that caused spiders to appear everywhere. After standing stock still for a few seconds she gave out a scream that easily rivaled Marco's making passing people even more worried. One even turned to friends and asked,

"Should we call the police man, this sounds bad?"

"Let's wait until we hear another one actually, this could be just people having fun… right?"

With Mavis, Selene, and Dumnorix out of the fight the few standing barbarians quickly backed down running for the portal like rats would by scrambling over each other. Dumnorix felt his way back as best as he could smacking head first into several objects and even running over someone who was bent over sending them to the side. Selene ran back into the portal swatting away spiders as best she could while clearly having a panic attack. Mavis hopped on one foot while cradling her arm and turned back to Star and Marco shouting at them.

"This isn't over and you know it. We will get that wand once you don't have mommy to protect you boy." Mavis then closed the portal behind her leaving them in the back yard as the sun was going down.

"Well that was fun; let's go clean up from dinner." Angie stood up with Raphael going with her to clean the dishes while Star went over to Marco.

"Are you ok because that sounded bad?" Star looked at Marco who was holding his arm and holding back tears.

"Of course I'm not ok she broke my arm." Marco got up as best he could with Star panicking slightly.

"Don't worry, you people do heal from these things right?" Marco saw Star looking at him with fearful concern not knowing how it would turn out.

"*Sigh* Everything is going to be fine Star, it'll just take a few weeks is all; no permanent damage done."

"But what about the match tomorrow?" Marco froze and almost began cursing when he thought of something.

"Wait, maybe you could heal it with magic."

* * *

Upstairs in Star's room Marco was cradling his arm while Star pulled out what appeared to be a book about a foot thick and two feet high that was brown and had a figure eight in the front with a bluish-purple gem in each hole of the eight. Star grunted as she pulled it out and opened it with pages going everywhere and dust spouting out of it with what appeared to be a cockroach running off.

"*Cough cough* Sorry sorry, this book has never been organized by the looks of things." Star began collecting papers while Marco looked at the book with curiosity.

"So what is that thing exactly?"

"Oh this? This is the collection of spells done by every princess and queen of Mewni since the wand was first discovered however long it ago it was. Even the history keepers don't know how long ago that was." Star began going through the book looking for a healing spell of some sort until she got to Soupina's chapter. "Ah, here is the section on healing spells. Let's see; how to cure the rat cough, getting rid of slime pimples, taking care of pineapple foot, preparing a dish of psalm soup…" Star stopped at that spell and began drooling slightly until Marco threw a slipper at her head.

"How can you still be hungry? You ate enough tacos for the equivalent of 4 people?" Star looked at him miffed at the slipper throwing.

"Well excuse me if I have a hearty appetite. Now where was I? Setting a sprained wing, draining a frog pustule, curing biker's syndrome, fixing a broken bone... yes that's it!" Star turned to Marco. "Present to me your arm." Marco held it out gingerly as Star touched her wand to it whispering something with the wand lighting up. After a few seconds Marco's arm lit up with a strange humming noise coming from it.

"Ohhhh, it's working Star! I can feel the bone healing!" Marco and Star smiled until the arm stopped glowing and turned into a squid tentacle. They both just stood there for a few seconds with smiles on their faces until they realized what had happened and just looked at each other in shock. Looking back down to the arm in question Marco sighed with his face falling. "As bad as it may sound Star, I kind of expected something like this to happen." Star looked at him with big eyes tears forming in the corners of them as Marco realized what he had said. "Not to beat you down Star but this magic stuff is unpredictable. I should have known what I signed up for when asking you to fix it." Star then got this determined look on her face.

"I will find the spell for changing it back no matter how long it takes!" Star promised but as she stood there the squid tentacle began flailing around and smacked the book into a wall making the wall crack. "Ok I better find it quick before you hurt someone."

* * *

The next morning Marco woke up feeling exhausted because the arm had not let him sleep well last night with the constant flailing about. As Marco got up for the day and went through morning activities the arm constantly proved an impediment for him every step of the way. It smacked the soap out of his hand and turned the heat to maximum in the shower as well as keeping him from leaving the shower burning him all over. As he tried to get his clothes on it actually ripped one of his hoodie's sleeves making him groan in frustration. At the breakfast table it knocked all of the food aside that was in front of him and then dumped some orange juice on his head. As Marco sat at the table tired, burnt, frustrated, and hungry Star came up looking just fine and looked at Marco in concern.

"Good morning Marco and squid arm. I was up all night trying to find the spell but I found nothing. Fortunately I can go without sleep for long periods of time due to being half Septarian. So how was your night?" Star's eyes went wide as the arm grabbed her orange juice and dumped it on Marco's head.

"Can we not talk about it please?" Marco sighed in tired annoyance as Star tried to eat her breakfast only to have it thrown to the side by the arm.

"No one takes my food from me!" Much to Marco's shock Star got the cat-pupiled yellow eyes like she did in a fight and leapt at the arm hissing in outrage. As Marco watched the two fought fiercely with Star winning after a few minutes by actually taking bites out of the arm to satisfy her hunger while the arm seemed to whimper. As Star calmed down she looked at what she had done and was about to start apologizing when Marco smiled at her.

"Thank you Star, that is the quietest it has been ever since your spell made it. Now I can eat in peace!" Marco got another helping while Star sat there dumbfounded until Marco turned back to her. "Oh yeah, I didn't feel anything in my arm while you were biting chunks off of it so no worries." Star nodded in confusion as she went back to her place at the table after getting more breakfast.

* * *

At the karate Dojo Star got into a stand of bleachers that had been set up for people to view the tournament to where Ferguson and Janna were sitting. The duo turned to greet Star but were stopped when they saw her wearing an outdoor jacket as she sat next to them. They just looked at her for a second until Star answered the unspoken question.

"I get cold easily and they keep this dojo pretty dang cold. Say, where is Alfonzo and Oskar?" Janna answered her question as Star sat next to them.

"Alfonzo had a family get together and Oskar I bet just forgot about the whole thing like he does way too often. But I see someone who Marco would be happy to see." Janna pointed out Jackie coming over to their group to Ferguson and Star.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Jackie sat down as Star fidgeted slightly.

"Oh just the sky and how are you?" Janna commented with the two laughing slightly and Ferguson pulling up his shirt to reveal the face was still drawn on his belly making it talk.

"Oh I'm just fine, don't know about Ferguson though but he seemed fine last I saw of him." This got the whole group to laugh, even Star though she did so nervously.

"Say Star, how is Marco?" Jackie turned to Star smiling at her with Star going deer in the headlights.

"Oh Marco's fine, just fine. Nothing to worry about with him." Star gave a big smile that the trio saw through effortlessly. Janna was the first to speak up about it but not in a good way.

"Don't tell me you turned him into a gigantic bug, although that would be cool." Star Immediately grabbed her tail and began rubbing it slightly with Ferguson asking next.

"Well I'm sure you didn't give him super strength or speed for the tournament, Marco would never allow that." Star rubbed her tail more intensely about to answer them but suddenly hearing a cool ringing in her ear as something was placed next to it.

"Take deep breaths Star and just listen to the ocean." Jackie talked calmly to Star as Star relaxed with the conch shell pressed against her ear. "Now whatever it is that happened it's ok, just tell us." Star looked at Jackie and realized why Marco liked her so much aside from her being pretty and athletic. Star sighed and tried looking at all three at once with some difficulty given how they were placed on the bleachers.

"Marco broke his arm helping me fight off some baddies last night and I tried to repair it but I accidentally turned it into a squid tentacle." The trio gasped slightly as Star held onto her tail again. "I know right? And what's more it has been making Marco's life horrible with no sleep and a difficult morning. I don't think he's in any state to win the tournament at this rate." Star looked down with the trio actually comforting her as best they could with Ferguson being the first one pulling out his belly.

"Don't be sad pretty lady, you did the best you could and no one can ask any more than that." This made Star giggle slightly with Janna putting her arm around her shoulder and pulling her close.

"Honestly given how magic works this might be a blessing for him later on down the road; if you know what I mean?" Janna waggled her eyebrows at Star as she slid away with Jackie coming up next.

"Let's just enjoy the tournament for now and see what you can do later. If Marco is as good as I think he is he will win this even with the arm and in his exhausted state." Jackie smiled at Star turning back to the fighting area where Marco's sensei walked out addressing everyone.

"Allow me to introduce our first competitor, Jeremy Birnbaum." The Sensei gestured with his arm to the right side of the floor to where a blue cloaked figure standing around 6 feet tall was situated with a butler on either side of him. One butler was holding a glass of water which the figure was drinking from while the other gave him a shoulder massage as if prepping him for the fight. The figure snapped it's fingers and the two butlers backed off pulling off the cloak revealing… a boy of around 8 or so standing on a foot stool about as tall as he was. He had blond hair and blue eyes and was wearing a white robe like one would see on a martial arts fighter but with a black belt and red finger-less gloves. He approached the center of the area with a carnivorous grin on his face smacking his gloved fists together with the quartet of friends looking on in confusion.

"That's Jeremy Birnbaum?" Jackie commented first as if not believing what she saw.

"He doesn't even look 8 years old." Ferguson commented confused by something.

"Wait, why is this important?" Star looked around with Janna leaning in close to fill in the details.

"He has been Marco's rival for quite some time with special equipment and private lessons constantly giving him an edge that Marco has had trouble beating. And in case if you hadn't guessed, he's kind of a bratty jackass when he wins given how Marco goes on about him and acts after losing." As if to push Janna's point home a person from the crowd called out to him.

"We love you son." Star smiled at how his mom was there to support him.

"Shut it mom!" Jeremy replied to his mom in a way that really pissed off Star making her smile fall and her eyes go cat pupiled and turned yellow.

"You better kick his ass Marco, NOBODY disses their parents like that when their showing support." Star's claws dug into the bleacher as the trio looked on at Star in concern. Jackie held up the conch back to Star's ear making her calm down again.

"Say, why do you carry a conch with you Jackie?" Janna asked with Jackie smiling in return.

"Because I like conches, in fact I have about 12 back home." Ferguson and Janna looked at her in interest as she acted a little sheepish. "Hey, just because I'm the "cool kid" as you all would put it doesn't mean I can't have odd quirks." As they talked they realized they had talked through Marco's introduction and turned to see him in a frazzled state with the arm flailing around at random. The audience had gasped in alarm at the arm with a few women looking at it smiling with an interest of some kind.

"I have to admit, that looks pretty cool." Janna commented before the arm slapped Marco across the face. "Oh, I see why that is bad." Jeremy looked like he had just entered a candy store and smiled as Marco tried to look dignified and failed wearing his white martial arts robe and green belt.

"Well this is going to be particularly easy loser." Jeremy got into a fighting stance while Marco did the same and replied back.

"I could beat you even with this arm working for you brat." The two growled at each other with the sensei holding up his arm to get everyone's attention.

"Let this be a fair match with no tricks on either side." He fixed a stern gaze on both the competitors before dropping his hand. "FIGHT!" The two leapt at each other with Jeremy getting the upper hand by lauching a punch-kick combo as the arm tripped Marco with the combined attacks sending him to the ground. "Point Birnbaum." Sensei waved his other hand as the fight continued. Jeremy launched a brutal triple punch attack that Marco had trouble blocking with one arm but did so anyway. With a look of grim determination on his face Marco did a high kick to Jeremy's head which Jeremy blocked with ease and punched Marco in the groin eliciting a gasp from the audience as Marco fell over not even screaming in pain. "Point Birnbaum." Jeremy at this point got cocksure about himself and picked Marco up with surprising ease setting him up right before launching another triple punch attack that Marco was not able to block this time. Taking the full brunt of the blows Marco staggered back using the backward Momentum to get and new fighting stance. Jeremey laughed and went for a flying kick at Marco that was stopped by the tentacle arm grabbing onto the leg and flinging Jeremy into the ceiling. "Point Diaz". Everyone seemed to hold their breath as Marco looked at his arm now seemingly ready to help him fight Jeremy for some reason and smiled as Jeremy came down from the rafters.

"Hey wait, how is he allowed to use a squid arm like that it's not fair." Jeremy whined to the sensei who looked at the arm in awe.

"I know, pretty cool right?" He spoke as Jeremy was picked up by the arm again and slammed into a wall and then the floor by the arm with Marco coming up slowly frowning at Jeremy in a disapproving way. "Point Diaz." Marco looked down at Jeremy with contempt in his eyes.

"This thing has been keeping up all night and making my life impossible handing you victory on a silver platter and you still can't beat me? Where are your private lessons now huh?" Marco had the arm encircle Jeremy's waist pulling him to Marco's eye level. "Yield now and we can part ways as equals." Jeremy responded by punching Marco in the face seemingly making Marco mad. "Oh, you did not want… wait no fist would feel like that." Everyone stopped at Marco's words as Marco used the squid arm to pull off Jeremy's gloves. "Are these… BRASS KNUCKLES?!" the audience gasped as Jeremy was revealed to have a pair of metal coverings over his fists.

"Pffff, as if. These are solid gold, nothing less for me." Jeremy smiled until he realized what he had done by saying this. Sensei walked up to Jeremy with disappointment all over his face as Marco let Jeremy down.

"Diaz's accidental handicap turned into an unfair advantage and he was willing to let you go as an equal but you came maliciously cheating." Jeremy seemed to wilt in front of the Sensei who spit to the side. "You have brought great dishonor upon this dojo and upon every strip mall dojo everywhere." He turned and walked to Marco lifting his non-tentacle arm up into the air. "Diaz is the victor." Everyone in the crowd began cheering especially Star, Ferguson, Janna, and Jackie while Jeremy slunk away cursing under his breath. Marco smiled looking around as some people from the stands actually came down to greet him, in particular a group of girls and women who had been looking at the arm in interest.

"Say, can we see your arm?" the group of 3 smiled at Marco with him looking around for a second before responding.

"Um yeah, sure." He let the arm down with the ladies surrounding it touching and rubbing it.

"Oh, can this be my boyfriend?"

"No I want it to be mine."

"I'm willing to share it."

The group bustled around Marco's arm as Star, Ferguson, Jackie, and Janna came down from the stands to meet him with Janna looking at the arm in interest as well. Jackie immediately went up to Marco and began talking with him with the trio just behind her.

"That was pretty cool how your arm leapt in to save you at the last minute and how you were willing to let him go once you were even." Jackie elbowed Marco in the side make him chuckle. "Plus the fight was just cool in general." Marco smiled and replied back to her with a hand behind his head.

"Yeah, I don't like having an unfair advantage in any fight like this even with Jeremy. It's just not who I am." Marco kept on smiling until he felt another pair of hands on his arm and looked over to see Janna. "Um Janna, what are you doing?"

"Getting a feel for this arm man, its super cool." Janna kept on rubbing it alongside the other 3 ladies with Ferguson, Star, and Jackie laughing at it while Marco played it cool smiling at Jackie in a "cool" pose.

'For once something strange like this wound up being exactly what I wanted.' Marco thought relived.

 **Also, by special request of KairaB, there is a "One shot" that is being called "Birth of the Star" that is now available on my channel. Basically it's MonStar being born and their reactions to her. Warning: rated A for Adorable. Send some thanks to KairaB and please do tell how well I did on that story.**


	8. Monster Arm Pt 2

Marco laid in Star's bed touching the tip of his tentacle arm while smiling with Star looking through the book of Spells with a somewhat worried expression on her face.

"Come on come on, it should be in here somewhere. Undoing curses like this should be her specialty… oh I think I found it!" Star turned to Marco. "Want me to shoot your arm back to nor… wait I should probably test it first." Marco looked up with a raised eyebrow as Star set a potted plant onto her desk and pointed her wand at it. "Returnio Armicus Normorificus!" The wand lit up its typical pinkish color and shot at the plant burning it to a crisp. The two stared in shock for a second looking at each other as Marco held his tentacle arm close to himself.

"As much as I appreciate it Star I don't think I actually need to turn it back now, I'm just fine with a squid's arm strangely enough." Star looked at him in concern as Marco got out of bed began heading out.

"Um Marco, I don't think you have fully thought this through." Marco stopped looking back at Star with confusion.

"Um why is this not a good thing now Star? I mean it was annoying but now it's actually proving helpful to me. Watch." Marco stretched out the squid tentacle to the ceiling and grabbed directly onto it with suction cups and pulled himself up. "Wait till Mavis and her cronies see us now, they'll run at the sound of my approach when I'm done with them." Marco smiled brightly but it began to fall as Star grabbed her tail and began rubbing it.

"The thing is these types of spells tend to have evil side effects when they don't work Marco, and I'm afraid you'll be badly influenced by it. Plus its smell has been changing every since it got attached to you, smelling more rotten and… corrupted." Marco stared at star for a few seconds until she added on, "I'm just worried for you Marco, please let me turn you back once I figure out how to do so." Star continued to rub her tail as Marco watched her go puppy-dog eyed.

"*Sigh* Well ok Star, if you view it for the best I'll do it." Marco let himself down from the ceiling. "I'm going to bed now though. Goodnight." Marco walked out the door as Star turned back to work changing more potted plants into… well Marco wasn't sure but he also didn't want to know what was going on with the plants.

* * *

Marco was trying to sleep but having trouble doing so for some reason as there seemed to be some sort of thought that he needed to remember but just couldn't for some reason. As he laid there the tentacle wrapped itself around him almost protectively like he was in a sleeping bag and snuggled up close to him as if trying to make him feel secure. Marco smiled and adjusted slightly in the arm thinking how great it could actually be and questioning why Star wanted it gone so badly. As he lay there about to sleep he began to hear a whisper in his mind that brought him fully awake.

"Who's there? Show yourself or I will think I am going crazy." Marco thought on what he said a second. "Maybe I could have put that better."

"No you put it just fine." Marco knew then that the voice was literally inside his head.

"Who are you? Are you the devil come to tempt me?" Marco looked around in fear as stories of El Diablo from his grandmother began circling inside of his head.

"*amused but friendly chuckling* No no, nothing so horrible Marco." Marco shuddered as he realized it knew his name. "I am you, or at least part of you. I am the piece that was given to you by Star." Marco blinked his eyes in recognition and looked down at the tentacle arm. "That's right Marco I am the arm. I do apologize for my behavior earlier with the food and the shower and everything else. Especially the orange juice, that was just mean on my part."

"Yeah that did seem particularly mean."

"I was not… familiar with the world around me so I just kept on reacting until I got a grasp of what was going on. The point is however I wish to help you and continue to be part of you. I know your friend Star suspects that I am evil and rightfully so since magic is unpredictable at times but I am your friend Marco." The tentacle unwrapped itself from around Marco and the tip pointed just a few inches from his face as if that was its face. "Give me the chance to help you prove it to Star, there is so much I can help you do."

"Like what?" Marco wasn't suspicious, but he was curious.

"I can get Jackie to like you the same way those girls like me." Marco smiled at that.

"Skipping the last two steps, I like it."

"I can help get you even with Selene and beat back those ruffians who come by frequently."

"Yeah." Marco smiled as he imagined how easy it would be to fight them off now.

"We can finally deal with those bullies who pushed you around for taking ballet classes." Marco looked at it in shock.

"How did you…"

"I am you Marco, I know everything about you; including what you know about Star's past." Marco's face saddened at remembering what had happened to Star. "Don't you want to insure she will never be hurt again?" Marco thought about it carefully.

"You're right, I will talk to Star tomorrow and show her you are a good guy and not one of the bad guys."

"Excellent, now go to bed and rest cause I'm guessing you need it after *ahem* what I did last night." Marco smiled and yawned curling up in the tentacle's embrace again and fell asleep soundly.

The tentacle chuckled slightly and a face did emerge on it about halfway up the arm with a sharp toothed grin and pale yellow eyes.

"Soon and very soon, I will get the entrails I desire. *evil chuckling*"

* * *

The next morning Star was still trying out spells and falling into a repetitive rut as she tried to find the right way to say the spell.

"Returnio Armicus Normoria." Star shot a bolt of energy at the plant turning it into a purple fungus like thing that looked like a foot.

She sighed looking at the dozens of plants she had experimented on with various results with most of them being burnt or blasted to bits. The rest were composed of various mutated plants, including one that tried to eat her, some forms of body parts that appeared twisted and gross, and a plant that did not change at all for some reason. She sighed again stifling a yawn as while she could stay awake for long periods of time it would take its toll eventually. She pulled out another plant and placed it on her desk pointing her wand at it.

"Returnio Armius Normal reeno." She shot a bolt of light at it with the plant seemingly disappearing and after a second an arm sprouted up growing out of the soil. Star gasped in shock staring at the hand until it gave her a thumbs up sign. "MARCO!" She grabbed the arm and ran out of her room to Marco's room smiling like an idiot. "Marco, I found the proper spell!" Star burst into Marco's room as Marco was doing a single handed pushup with the squid arm.

"676… 677… 678…67- oh hey Star there you are." Marco leapt off his tentacle landing gracefully with the tentacle standing at attention. "Something happened last night and I want to…"

"I figured out how to change the arm back look." Star showed him the plant smiling with Marco looking at in confusion . "Now if you would just present to me your arm…"

"Star, there's someone I want you to meet." Star stopped and stared in confusion until Marco pulled the tentacle out front. "My arm actually contacted me last night and talked to me Star." Star looked at the tentacle with a mixture of suspicion and horror. "He's not a bad guy and he even apologized to me for what he did to me. He was just born after all and was trying to learn his way in the world." The tentacle reached out for Star who shied back a step.

"So… you are calling it a he?" Star looked at Marco who appeared slightly frustrated with Star at this point.

"Yes it is a he Star, and he wants to convince you he is not evil. Go on and talk to her." The tentacle then moved up revealing the mouth and eyes to them both with Marco looking surprised as well as Star.

"Yeah I figured out how to do that last night Marco. Star, I am not an evil creature I am good just like you." It smiled in a creepy fashion at Star making her shudder.

"Look, I get that you are talking him up Marco and he seems relaxed but he still smells corrupted… *sniff sniff* bleh even more so then yesterday." Star held her nose as Marco got mad and the tentacle looked offended.

"Seriously, you are judging someone by their SMELLL!" Marco stepped towards Star looking mad as Star took another step back. "And here I thought you would be willing to accept him considering what has happened when people judge your appearance." Star took another step back wilting in front of his eyes. "I can't believe this, you are a hypocrite Star; all he wants to do is help me and in the process protect you from bullies and worse things!" Star wilted even further stepping away from Marco some more as Marco began stepping closer to her.

"Ok, I may have gone overb…"

"YOU THINK!?" Star wilted even further backing into the doorway with Marco really close to her. "You know what, you can just go away to wherever it is you want to until you are willing to apologize to my new friend. Got it?" Marco whispered the last two words to her as he slammed the door shut.

As Marco stood there panting letting the anger bleed off he looked at his tentacle with it looking right back at him as if saddened by the turn of events. They stood there for a second until the heard crying from the other side of the door moving away fast as Star went back to her room. Marco's anger dissipated to be replaced with a feeling of horror; he knew how sensitive Star was about these things and he had done the equivalent of flaying her alive emotionally. Marco went to get the door knob but the tentacle stopped him.

"She'll be alright Marco, let this blow over for a little while and then go talk to her. You will forgive her and she will forgive you and everything will be straightened up right?" He smiled at Marco with a smile that seemed to hide something.

"Well…" Marco thought about a moment and began hearing whispering in his mind again. "Could you stop that I'm trying to think here." The tentacle looked at Marco in shock as the whispering disappeared. He stood there for a few seconds thinking and came to a decision. "No, I'm going to talk to her now." He opened the door with the tentacle looking a might bit nervous.

"But won't she react strongly and just throw you out?" Marco sensed the arm was nervous now and fixed it with a stare as he walked to Star's room.

"Even if she does she is my friend and just wanted to help me out so I'm gonna do it anyways." The whispering returned to Marco's head with Marco getting annoyed again. He stopped trying to clear his mind to talk to Star when he began hearing some of the words clearly. "Meet other friends" "Don't need her" "Hypocrite". Marco stopped with the wheels turning in his head realizing what was going on at long last. He turned to the tentacle and fixed it with a stare. "I know I don't need Star, but she needs me and I want to be with her and that is more than enough." The whispering stopped as the tentacle realized what was going on. "And stop with the whispering thing it's like you want to influenc…" Marco looked at it as its appearance suddenly got dark as Marco spoke in a whisper. "You made me go berserk at Star. You are a bad influence." The arm drew up to its full height.

"We could have done so much Marco. You are pathetic." Marco looked up in horror as the tentacle reared back and struck at him.

Screaming Marco dodged with the tentacle breaking down Star's door with a clatter. The forward momentum of the arm brought itself and Marco into the room with the tentacle attempting to smash Marco against the walls with great success. As Marco was shot around like a ping pong ball Star looked up from her bed in shock with a tear streaked face. The tentacle grabbed onto Marco and began twisting him like a rag towel chuckling evilly but stopped as Star stood up from her bed her eyes cat-pupil and yellow with rage bursting out of them.

"LEAVE MARCO ALONE!" She shot a stream of energy from her wand that was a sickly green color as the tentacle dodged it effortlessly.

"Want to try that again mudblood?" The tentacle taunted her as Marco tried to get his bearings.

"Star I'm sorry about all that happened…" The tentacle slipped through the room dragging Marco with him while avoiding the blasts from Star. "… and you were right about him but if you keep doing this…" One blast got too close to hitting the tentacle making it throw Marco onto a chest to dodge it. " … *ow* you might hit me too." The tentacle laughed as Star continued to fire with one of the blows hitting Marco in the leg burning him. This made Star regain her focus and realized what she needed to do.

"Sorry Marco, Returnio Armius Normal reeno." Star fired her wand at the tentacle, the blast being its usual pink color, and blasted a section of the floor making an arm grow out of it. Star continued to do this blasting multiple areas of the room making arms grow as the tentacle dodged, ducked dipped, dived, and dodged. All the while Marco was dragged along like a rag doll smacked into everything left and right. At one point the arm got close to the plants and Marco got a face full of some sort of fungal pustule that smeared over his face.

Meanwhile, Angie and Raphael were making breakfast when they heard crashing from upstairs. The looked at each other in worry with Angie being the first one to speak.

"We should get up there and see what's going on right?"

"My thoughts exactly." Raphael got up and moved up the stairs with Angie right behind him. As they moved up the laser eyed puppies began scampering up right behind them eager to see what going on barking merrily. As the parents and puppies reached the top of the stairs they saw flashes of light coming from Star's room which had the door broken down. Fearing the worst they rushed to the door and looked in to see something they were not quite sure of honestly. Marco was being dragged by a tentacle arm around the room with Star trying to blast it with some sort of spell with an angry face. The two looked at each other in confusion as the tentacle passed in front of the door way with a blast coming out and striking one of the puppies. To their shock the puppy turned into an arm the same color as its fur with the other puppies gathering around it in concern sniffing carefully. As they did so the arm began barking and a red laser came out of the palm of the hand striking the ceiling. Raphael responded with the first question that came to mind. "How are we going to feed it?" Angie shrugged as the arm continued to dodge Star.

Eventually Star lowered her wand to catch her breath as the tentacle gripped onto the ceiling holding Marco up laughing at Star.

"I could do this all day Mudblood." Star stamped her foot on the ground and glared murder at it.

"It's too wriggly for me to hit. What do I do?" Star asked no one in particular as Marco tried looking for an answer. As he looked at the ground he was amazed at all the arms that had formed thanks to Star's spell and got an idea. He leapt up at the ceiling grabbing the tentacle and pulled down until the tentacle became detached falling to the ground. When the tentacle hit the ground, by reflex, the arms in the area clamped down on the tentacle pinning him down.

"Gah, geh, get off me!" The tentacle struggled trying to break free as the arms held fast with Star aiming her wand again.

"Returnio Armius Normal reeno." Star shot the magic hitting the tentacle head on causing it to shrink and contort.

"It's too late Marco; you'll never be rid of me as I am one with you." As the arm shrunk it began turning back into an ordinary arm with its voice getting stupidly high pitched. "You can treat the symptoms but you'll never cure the virus." Once it disappeared Marco slumped to the floor and just laid there. Star ran up to Marco knocking hands aside and knelt down to him.

"Are you alright Marco?" Marco looked up into her eyes which now looked bluish green for some reason and hugged her close.

"I'm sorry Star, you were right. That tentacle was a bad influence. And I didn't mean any of the things I said earlier." Star gripped Marco back as she helped him up.

"That's ok Marco, we all say strange things when under strange influences." They pulled back with Marco looking into her eyes again and noticed they were even more blue now, 'Wow they are really pretty in this color as well.' Marco thought to himself.

"Say um Star, is the arm really gone considering what it just said?" Marco rubbed the back of his head with Star looking around worried.

"Oh hoho, no need to worry about that Marco. I think at least." Star smiled while Marco got a horrified look on his face. A clump made them turn to the door to see Angie and Raphael come in.

"Ok, we deserve an explanation for this." Angie held up an arm that seemed to be barking and shooting a laser from its palm. Marco and Star looked at each other in concern

"Uhhhhmmmmm…"

 **Up next, one that most of you have been waiting for, "Quest Buy". And don't worry I am not going to just rehash all the episodes that I liked I am going to make original ones, it's just not the time yet.**


	9. Quest Buy Pt 1

***In a singing voice* You can find it all, every item in the cosmos. Come one and all, to the one stop shop, it's Quest Buy! *Dramatic pose with crickets in the background.***

 **Wandering Hippie: Ok fine, let's just start this chapter.**

Marco stared ahead dead-pan at what was happening in front of him believing every second of it but wishing that disbelieving it would make it go away. In front of him in the Echo Creek school parking lot Oskar was trying to calm down the predatory like bird of paradise he had "tamed" during the surprising victory over the warriors and not doing the best job. What wasn't helping was that Oskar not only didn't sound commanding, which was needed to control an animal, but the bird seemed to be starving as it scooped up a random hotdog stand eating it whole.

"Floyd, how many times do I have to tell you, metal is bad for your diet man. I'm all for listening but don't eat actual metal." Oskar tried berating the bird but it more sounded like a stoner trying to get his friend to not burn all his stash. The bird responded by screeching like a red-tail hawk and bent down trying eat someone who had been at the hotdog stand. Marco sighed in annoyance face palming and walked up pulling out a whistle and blowing it at the bird making it and Oskar look at him in shock.

"DROP IT!" Marco pointed to the ground to which Floyd dropped the human from 10 feet off the ground having them land with a thud. Floyd then went over to Oskar chirping slightly while Marco ran over to see who was dropped and felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Ferguson getting up.

"I'm ok man, it's gonna take a lot more than that to beat me down." Ferguson got up as Alfonzo and Janna rounded a corner and ran up to see what was going on.

"Oskar's bird acting up again?" Alfonzo asked seemingly knowing what the answer would be with Marco giving it to him.

"Yep. He needs to properly train that thing before it actually does eat someone. And for that matter we need to find it an adequate supply of food before it scoops up more random hotdog stands or worse." Marco turned slightly to see the owner of the stand running away in fear screaming something about bad mushrooms while Oskar played music to calm down the bird turning to the group.

"I'm doing the best I can man; it's not easy when a bird the size of a trailer follows you around and your mom is too busy with her new "boyfriend" to help you out. All I have is the stuff in my car which I am fairly certain I am still not allowed to drive yet." Oskar pointed to a slightly run down car filled with junk that he was sitting on. Despite his appearance Oskar was actually 14 years old instead of the 16 everyone thought he was.

"Well we need to do something to help Oskar out, he's our friend." Ferguson commented with the group agreeing trying to think of something but not getting much. There was not a lot in terms of bulk food production or bird training for something like this on earth… 'wait, on earth.' Marco thought to himself and apparently Janna had the same idea as she spoke.

"We can't do much, but maybe Star can." Everyone one began looking at each other smiling and nodding realizing that this might be not only their best idea but the only good one. As they did this the bird picked up Oskar putting him in some sort of makeshift nest and sat on him like it would an egg chirping softly.

"We should go get her now right?" Marco asked everyone with them all agreeing, including Oskar who stuck his head out from under the bird.

* * *

Marco and company were at the entrance to Star's room with the group of four behind him murmuring in anticipation as this was the first time any of them aside from Marco had been in Star's room. The outside looked impressive so they were assuming the inside would be just as impressive with Marco thinking to himself 'I wonder what we actually will find in there?'

"Hey Star, can we talk to you…" Marco went to knock on the door but as he knocked it swung open automatically revealing a scene that made everyone stop cold.

Star was lying on some sort of pile of cushions with an array of heaters around her and some sort of giant heat lamp bearing light down on her. As she was lying there she was reading manga and eating from a MASSIVE pile of what looked like BBQ chicken wings with soft soothing music playing in the background that seemed both Japanese and Celtic in origin. What caught everyone off guard the most however was that Star was only wearing stark white underwear that complemented her skin tone and eye color exceedingly well. Star looked up to Marco's words and saw Janna, Oskar, Ferguson, and Alfonzo standing there and staring at her alongside Marco. Star sighed in annoyance and turned around so that she was in a kneeling position looking at the group giving a very good view of her form to everyone.

"Marco, I told you not to disturb me when I was in my zen time." Star crossed her arms and pouted at him making Marco blush slightly.

"Uhhhhm… Oskar is having uhhh, trouble with the ehm, bird you created and we uerm, need some advice on how to take care of it." Marco tried keeping his eyes from wandering over Star's incredibly athletic figure but was having trouble with it, and he noticed Ferguson and Alfonzo were having trouble as well. It also appeared as if Janna and Oskar had noticed them doing so as well.

Janna spoke first "Uhm Star, don't you wanna put some clothes on?" Star fixed Janna with an annoyed stare that could have melted rock.

"This is my room Janna and I like being in as few clothes as possible. In fact if I was back home I wouldn't even have underwear on; maybe you should stop being such a bunch of prudes." Star stared at them with Ferguson, Marco, and Alfonzo all blushing now at the image that was just conjured in their minds.

Oskar smacked Ferguson over the head outright and chastised him saying "Stop with the ogling man, Star's not a piece of meat." Ferguson was quick to reply however.

"Oh sure, but if Star was a boy would you and Janna not be doing the exact same thing?" The two stared at each other a second until realizing what they did and turned to see Star blushing slightly realizing what the issue was. Much to everyone's surprise however, instead of covering herself, Star took a bashful pose looking at them out of the corner of her eyes speaking softly.

"You… think I look pretty?" Everyone stared at Star not expecting this kind of reaction at all with Ferguson being the first to respond.

"Of course you're pretty Star. You are one of the prettiest girls I know." He pulled out his belly and made it talk as well. "I mean, do you know how attractive you just sitting in your underwear chilling on your off time is to some people like Ferguson here." Oskar would have smacked him again but held up as Star blushed giggling slightly.

"Sorry guys I… just thought Janna meant something else." Star composed herself a little bit and slid down from her stack of pillows facing them. "So what does the bird need?" Marco reacted as best he could but Oskar beat him to the punch.

"Floyd needs munchies and I need a way to keep him chill without playing music constantly man." Star smiled and nodded turning around to her closet.

"Well I think I know where we can get supplies to do both. I'll be out in a second." The group of course left the room as Star put clothes on stopping for a second to smile. "People think I'm actually pretty." Star giggled to herself as she got her clothes on.

* * *

"Welcome to Quest Buy!" Star stepped through the portal she cut with her friends following and gasping in awe.

Around them was what appeared to be a typical shopping mart but built like a medieval palace would have been built with vaulted ceilings and stone blocks used for the walls. The place was also massive with the ceiling easily a good 50 feet or more above them and they could tell it extended outwards for what seemed like miles even in their location. Around them were shelves and isles containing a wide variety of materials or products that were being looked over by a wide variety of entities and races of all shapes and sizes. As they were looking around a voice blared out over some sort of intercom system.

"Attention Quest Buy shoppers, we have a red ticket sale 25% off all things that murd- AHHHHH!" Janna, Alfonzo, Ferguson, Marco, and Oskar looked at each other with worried expressions at the scream as Alfonzo asked the question on everyone's minds.

"Are you sure it's safe to be here?" As he asked a small tray was shoved under his face with two beakers on it. One had some eyeballs floating in gelatinous goo and the other only had the goo in it.

"Sample?" Alfonzo looked up to see a fish person wearing a suit with no sleeves was holding the tray. "Either take a sample or leave a sample." Alfonzo's eyes rolled back into his head as he fainted with Ferguson catching him.

"Does anyone have cold water and a paper bag?" Ferguson asked the group as Janna walked up and took one of the eyeballs smiling devilishly.

"I could use this." Janna put it in her pocket as Marco grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

"First off, gross. Second, don't talk with creepy fish people offering up eyes and taking them from people as that always turns out bad." Marco spoke dragging Janna to where the group was starting to head with Janna noticing stuff around them.

"Ghost repellent, extra strength Gnome heads, I could shop here for hours." Janna smiled as Marco dragged her along as the group woke up Alfonzo giving him a paper bag. He began breathing into it speaking on occasion.

"What kind of *uses bag* store is this? *uses bag*" Star chuckled twirling her wand a little before replying.

"Only the one stop shop for everything anyone could want or need."

Oskar replied to her "Sounds like Walmart except more disorganized." Star blew upwards from her mouth pushing some of her hair in place.

"It only looks disorganized. Legends say that the founders of Quest Bug had an ancient cryptic system of symbols they used to organize the store." Star leaned in close to them with an eerie look in her eyes. "Some have gone mad trying to decipher it." The group turned as they heard an excited squeal from some sort of goblin like creature.

"I finally got it! House wares are that WAY!" He ran off laughing into a section that seemed to be filled with juice of some sort with a splat as he ran into something and a pool of juice began slowly expanding out of the section. "Everything going… tropical fruity." The group stared in its direction for a few more seconds until Oskar broke the silence.

"Well no system is needed here man, we got you to guide us and we're in no hurry." He strummed his keytaur as the group began following Star.

"Does he carry that thing with him everywhere he goes?" Star whispered to Marco who nodded with tired acceptance.

* * *

Mavis pinched the bridge between her eyebrows in frustration as she felt another migraine come on while holding onto the shopping cart with her other hand. 'How hard was it to keep these warriors in line?' She thought to herself as a barbarian who looked ordinary except for a long brown beard came up holding a dress meant for a 12 year old.

"Hey warchief, could we get this?" She pinched her bridge even harder as chuckles came from the group. Mavis replied in a tight clipped voice leaking frustration.

"It wouldn't even fit you. Why would you want it?"

"Oh it's not for me. Selene would look so cute in it." He smiled fluttering his eyes but froze when a pair of curved daggers poked either side of his throat. Selene's head came around over his left shoulder and whispered in his ear,

"Care to rephrase that?" He was saved however when a loud smacking with a smash following it signaled one of their comrades had been thrown into a stand by Dumnorix who bellowed at the warrior in anger.

"Stop sneaking things into the cart, our funds are short enough as is." He turned to a tall skinny barbarian holding a bag of "Beef Cake Muscle Growth Formula" and stared at him in disgust. "Same for you; you earn your muscles the old fashion way coward." Mavis raised her hand and did a trilling sound like a bird would make to call order to everyone making them look at her.

"Do I need to say this again? We are here only for new armor and weaponry equipment after what happened last attack with that boy punching through my elbow greeves; which we wouldn't have to do if you three had bothered to take care of our EQUIPMENT!" Mavis shouted the last part to the 3 barbarians standing on top of each other's shoulders who looked down in shame as everyone chastised them. "Now let's get moving. Oh clerk, helpful assistant." Mavis called out to a humanoid sloth wearing blue pants and a yellow shirt that turned around with a bored expression on his face. "Where might I find weapons and armor in this store?"

"That's not my department." Mavis blinked in annoyance pinching her bridge again.

"Direct me to someone then that does know, even if it's your manager." As she tried talking with the sloth clerk Selene turned her attention back to the barbarian still holding the dress.

"So, care to rephrase…"

"How are you even standing tall enough to do this, you're like a foot and a half shorter then me?" Selene fell silent as he glanced over his shoulder to see she was on a step stool. She withdrew her daggers and stepped aside glaring murder at him as she packed up her step stool and put it back where she found it.

"This is not over big boy." He shuddered slightly as Selene left but saw a familiar sight that made the feeling go away. Smiling evilly he went over to Mavis and spoke to her.

"How about something for free that you've always wanted?" Mavis and the clerk looked up in confusion until he pointed down an isle towards Star Butterfly walking down a different isle with people in tow. Mavis smiled and turned towards her group and the sloth.

"Nevermind on the equipment for now, we have a bigger prize in store to find."


	10. Quest Buy Pt 2

Star walked down the isles with confidence as her friends followed stopping to stare at the wonders all around them. She smiled back at them as Ferguson found a fighting doll that he began cuddling until it punched him in the face. He then smiled and put it in his back pocket running to keep up with the group. 'I remember when I first came to Quest Buy.' Star thought back and smiled as her father had needed to buy a heat lamp for Star and brought her along to help him pick. She had been in as much awe as everyone in her group. She was brought out of her memory lane when Marco tugged on the shoulder cuff to her dress's sleeve.

"Say Star, do you come here often?" Star smiled and chuckled slightly.

"Oh not that often, usually my parents send servants to get stuff when we have coupons or a bargain price is available here. Never waste money from the royal treasury when there is a cheaper alternative that works." Star smiled in a knowing expression while the group continued to look around in awe with Alfonzo answering her.

"We also a phrase like that, _A penny saved is a penny earned_." He smiled as Janna groaned and face palmed.

"Are you going to start quoting Benjamin Franklin again?" Alfonzo smiled again as he replied.

"You seem annoyed, getting enough sleep? _Early to bed and early to rise makes a man_ …" Janna punched him in the face making him go silent as she spoke to him.

"If you do that again, I will hurt you." Ferguson ignored the bickering and asked Star,

"Say, do you need like a charger for your wand?" Star laughed out loud at that question making everyone look at her in concern.

"Sorry sorry. This is an ancient artifact of my ancestors that stretches back millennia before the kingdom of Mewni and is directly connected to the wellsprings of magic. Do you honestly think it would need a charger to function?" The group looked at each other with murmurs of "that makes sense" among them as they continued.

"HALT PUNY MORTALS!" The group stopped as they gazed up at a giant Egyptian sphinx that blocked their path speaking with an eerie double voice. "Answer my riddle if you dare. "I do not breath…"

"A leg." Ferguson spoke up.

"…but I jump…"

"A leg." Marco spoke in annoyance.

"… and run…"

"A leg man." Oskar spoke in a tired voice.

"…and… wait you knew all that before I got even half way through my riddle?" The sphinx's voice changed to a British woman's mid-sentence.

"The internet." Janna spoke holding up her smart phone with everyone nodding.

"Internet?" The sphinx spoke as if the word was foreign to her.

"Yeah you should look it up, it's very convenient actually." Star smiled at her as the sphinx stared at them in confusion for a solid minute.

"*sigh* You may pass." She lifted up a section of wall allowing the group to run through. After they passed she lowered the section and looked around with no one in sight. "Now if only I had someone to tell me about the internet they were talking about."

Star led the group on a little further smiling and turned to them. "I do believe pet care and training is right over here." Star pointed proudly only for her face to fall making everyone confused until they saw what she was pointing at.

"Ghost repellent, extra strength Gnome heads? Did we just make a giant circle?" Marco asked in confusion.

"Hey man, isn't life just one big circle." Oskar strummed his keytar as Marco face palmed.

"Buddy, this is literal not figurative." Marco got even more annoyed when he saw Janna looking at the Gnome heads.

"I wonder what these actually do?" Janna smiled picking one up as Marco went over to stop her from doing anything stupid. Meanwhile Ferguson and Alfonzo were looking to Star like expectant children as Star went over how they got her.

"Let's see, we took a right turn, and a left turn, then two more right turns, then 5 left turns, then a right turn, then 2 more left turns… yep we went in a giant circle." Star jumped as a cart shoved into her and she turned annoyed only to double take in shock as Mavis was pushing the cart.

"Star Butterfly, it seems this store has everything a true queen and Mewman could want." Mavis smiled at Star arrogantly as the Barbarians behind her looked ready to fight. "Now hand over the wand or there is going to be a clean up on isle… what isle is this?" Mavis looked around with both groups shrugging in confusion.

"That's not my department." The groups looked in confusion as another humanoid sloth walked away nonchalantly. Mavis snorted in annoyance only to be hit in the face by a giant box of giant diapers.

"Big Boy Diaper Volley!" Ferguson screamed at the top of his lungs as he began hurdling box after box at the barbarians. One hit the bottom of the three barbarians on each others shoulders causing the whole stack to fall on top of one another with a muffled _oof_. Another went streaking overhead to hit Dumnorix in the face planting a diaper on his head which he pulled off with a dead-pan expression. The other barbarians jumped around the flying diapers with various success as Oskar, Alfonzo, and Janna joined in throwing diapers at the group.

Marco leapt straight into the fight kicking out the legs of one of the barbarians and landing a blow on his face making him clutch his nose while whining in pain. A second one leapt up behind Marco trying to get him in a bear hug and while he succeeded he did not take into account just how flexible Marco was. Marco lifted up his left leg into the air in a way similar to how a ballet dancer would and brought it back into the barbarians groin with a hard thunk making it let go of Marco and clutch itself painfully. As Marco turned back to face more the downed guy yelled out with a stupidly high pitched voice,

"Mavis is right, our armor does not protect us!" This made a trio standing in front of Marco drop their weapons and go to guard their "goods" from Marco's attacks. As they did so a diaper box flew over their heads only to be cut in half by Mavis's sword as she pushed past the trio.

"They might be scared of your move, but I am not." She smiled and feinted going low only to swing her sword high trying to catch Marco off guard. Marco managed to dodge it with a back flip but not without getting a slight cut on his cheek. Marco righted himself and went to strike at Mavis's funny bone and shin again but this time Mavis twirled her sword in front of her so Marco had to step back or lose an arm to the twirling blade. "Ha ha ha ha, that's not going to work again boy." She did a long thrust using its momentum to turn and try to kick out Marco's feet from underneath him. Instead of him leaning back or dodging to the side like she expected Marco did an impressive vertical leap of four feet into the air and kicked Mavis in the face knocking her down and forcing her to drop her sword. As Marco landed he was struck with a big boy diaper box that was thrown back by Dumnorix who was laughing at the fight.

"Come on lads, we aren't gonna let some diapers stop us now are we?" Dumnorix bellowed that out only to be struck in the face by a liquid rainbow that glued over his face. With a muffled scream he tried to pull it off with little effect as Star leapt under him tripping him and making him fall onto Selene who was coming in to provide aid. As he crashed down on top of her, with Selene giving a muffled scream as he did, Star leapt up and ran gathering up her friends. As Marco was about to protest Star spoke loudly and clearly in a commanding voice.

"We can fight them later Marco, our friends are not combatants like we are." Marco didn't respond because she was right, if the barbarians had closed their friends would have been fresh meat for them. The group ran through the remaining Diaper boxes making them fall in an avalanche providing a temporary barrier that stopped the barbarians cold. "Oh no, this is not familiar at all." Star looked around worried as the barbarians began pushing aside the diapers with Ferguson, Alfonzo, and Marco looking at a map for few seconds. Marco then turned around and pointed to a pair of some sort of elevators getting everyone's attention.

"Those should take us to animal care, let's move it people." The group moved fast piling into the elevator with Oskar playing chase music the whole time. The barbarians pushed through the remaining diapers just as the elevator took off with everyone groaning in frustration with Dumnorix, having pulled off most of the rainbow, leading them to the other elevator.

"They must not escape." He leapt in with everyone piling in clown car fashion until Mavis got up pushing everyone in allowing herself a bit of room. In the process pushing Selene so she was spooning with one of the male barbarians to which she pointed a dagger at him.

"You get _excited_ , you die." He gulped in fear as the door closed and they followed Star's group.

Meanwhile, Star's group was heading up fast and they caught site of a big sign that said "Animal care" that the elevator was nearing. Marco smiled as he said,

"Sometimes it pays to get organized Oskar." Oskar sighed and replied softly.

"Ok man, I get the message. I'll get myself in better shape to better take care of Flyod." As he said this the elevator stopped and went dark. "Um, does that normally happen?" Everyone turned to where they thought Star was who replied,

"No, this is not normal. Help me open the door people." Everyone helped open the elevator door slipping out with Star knocking her head against an out of order sign hanging over the elevator. They were greeted by one of the sloth clerks who had his arm in a cast and bandages over his right eye.

"Sorry folks, the elevators are out of order from beyond this point. Welcome to the booby trap department." He pointed around revealing a wide variety of traps and devices that could easily kill or maim people. The group looked around in worry as Janna and Alfonzo pulled Ferguson out of the elevator as it was a tight squeeze for him. "Please watch your step as-" As the sloth turned around a accidentally stepped onto a giant mousetrap pinning him onto the ground with a hiss of pain from him. Everyone began moving towards him but he held up his hand. "Don't help me up, I get worker's comp for this." He smiled as the group looked at each other in confusion. After a second Janna asked the question on everyone's minds,

"Worker's comp exists in this place?" Before anyone else could speak though the elevator next to theirs opened with the Barbarians falling out like a pile of bricks crushing Mavis who was in the entrance. As the barbarians picked themselves up Star gather her friends close to her acting quickly.

"Ok, I think it's time to go. Magical hamster ball!" Star waved her wand and a gigantic hamster ball encased them and started rolling through the room crushing the sloth in the process who gave a muffled ow. As the Barbarians were picking themselves up Dumnorix and Selene were the first out of the group to chase after them stepping on the sloth as well as they chased after the ball. As Mavis got up she pointed to the ball with her sword yelling out to the others,

"Get that hamster ball." The Forest Barbarians charged forward with some of them stepping on the sloth with muffled ow's accompanying it. As Mavis stepped up to the sloth she looked down in concern and said "Are you in need of aid?" When he shook his head no she shrugged and stepped over him politely before charging onwards screeching like a Berserker.

As the ball rolled through the room various traps were sprung as the ball rolled by and as the Barbarians ran by they sprung the remaining traps. The Hamster Ball ran through a section causing axes and scythes to come out of the walls that would have sliced and diced them except for the fact that the ball seemed near indestructible. It did not stop the ball from being tossed around like a cork in a stormy sea smashing it against walls and tumbling the group around like a cup of dice. The Barbarians followed them dodging and weaving through the weaponry with some losses here and there. One was scooped up by an axe and pinned to the ceiling, another was tripped to the ground and had to hunker in a fetal position or get sliced and diced, and a third made it through but lost his hair and beard to twin vertical axes.

The next section was full of dart shooters that bounced right off of the ball like it was nothing although they were still bouncing around from the slicing section with several of their group looking very dizzy and nauseous. The Barbarians ran through this section at full tilt with them either dodging darts or deflecting them as best as possible. Selene twirled her daggers and leapt through the storm of darts with such beauty and grace it would have been perfect were not for the fact that 3 barbarians were knocked unconscious by her deflected darts. Dumnorix outright hefted two heavy pieces of scrap metal that were just lying around and used them as shields just as effectively deflecting as Selene did with less casualties as well. Mavis ran through it last using the body of an already fallen comrade to absorb the dart blows as she pushed onward.

Finally the two groups got to a section where 4 sections of wall were smashing in on each other repeatedly. The ball actually got stuck in one of the sections of wall for a few seconds before the slightly curved nature of the smashing parts shot the ball out of the booby trap department with the speed of a stone from a slingshot. As the walls smashed again Dumnorix got in line first and held two sections of wall apart so one of the sections didn't smash together while the others got through. Other barbarians tried holding sections up with less successful results most of the time. Mavis used her sword to prop the final section open so Dumnorix had a way out and made it easier for everyone else. Selene managed to get through and went after Star without looking back making some people gaze at her annoyed; especially Mavis.

The hamster ball containing Star's group finally stopped after rolling a little ways and dissolved piling everyone on the floor in an unorganized heap. They took a few minutes to regain their breathes with Marco pushing everyone aside and running to a garbage can and vomiting in it the whole time. Star finally got up and noticing Marco in distress went over to him rubbing her tail.

"Are… you ok Marco?" Marco looked up at Star with a gray face and burped slightly before speaking.

"I just get car sick easily in situations like that Star. Could I have some water?" A random employee of the store handed Marco some iced sparkling water which Marco used to first rinse his mouth and spit and then drank some slowly. "Thank you." Marco addressed the employee who nodded and spoke.

"Complementary for anyone who gets nauseous in any extreme environment. Welcome to the pet care department by the way." He gestured around revealing sections of wall with pet care books and supplies with everyone cheering slightly. Oskar stepped forward from the group and spoke to the sloth first.

"Anything food and training for trailer sized exotic birds of prey?" The sloth cast him an impressed look before speaking and pointing to two sections.

"Right over there we have pamphlets on care and training for birds of prey of any sizes though one of your size is unusual. Food is over there and I recommend an eternal meatball. It is big and heavy to carry around but will provide an infinite supply of most of the food your bird will need. I do recommend getting some bonemeal for it and vitamins at least once a week as it does not compose the full diet a carnivorous bird needs." After the sloth said that he walked away with rapidly approaching footsteps alerting the group to someone approaching. They turned to see a slightly winded Selene coming in fast looking mad enough to chew through steel ready to leap at Star.

As she leapt she yelled "You will not escape me THIS TIME!" As she leapt Marco tripped over his own feet, being dizzy from his puking spree, and knocked himself and Ferguson into Selene's path just as she jumped. Both sides tried dodging but Selene made impact knocking all three of them into a makeshift ball that was mostly Ferguson that rolled of a sharp incline that was about 10 feet from the group that led to an area marked _children's clothes_. The remaining four stared at it for a second before Alfonzo commented,

"How did we not notice that department?" The group was startled from their confusion by the sounds of barbarians approaching their area quickly. Star leapt into action and began issuing orders while getting into a fighting stance.

"Oskar, find the stuff the sloth dude was talking about and do it as quickly as possible. Janna and Alfonzo help him out in finding it while I fight these guys off. Understood?" Oskar and Alfonzo saluted before running away to find the items while Janna seemed torn at first before running off to help out the other two. Star turned breathing in and out as the barbarian group arrived at the department with Mavis at the front who began screaming at everyone.

"Get the wand and the girl's head, kill anyone who stands in your way!" Mavis pointed at Star while the barbarians charged at her led by Dumnorix shouting,

"JOHANSEN HO!"

Star hissed at them like a lizard would with cat slit yellow eyes and pointed her wand shooting a beam of orange light freezing three in place seemingly coated in orange sherbet. Dumnorix leapt at her trying to bring his fists down but Star nimbly stepped in close to him and slid up right through his arms leaving him paralyzed in shock for a few moments, wondering how she did that, as she climbed onto his back and leapt off fly kicking another barbarian to the ground. Another one leapt at her with Star jumping to the side and smacking him with her tail very resoundingly. One came at her with what seemed to be a squeaky chew toy equivalent of a nun-chuck trying to hit her. Star gave a deadpan expression as it just bounced right off her doing no damage and pointed her wand at him saying "happy slapper" with some sort of stuffed animal coming out and beating down the barbarian very effectively.

Meanwhile Alfonzo and Oskar were looking through texts to see which one was of birds of prey and not getting very far very fast. Alfonzo picked up one book that seemed to have fur on it and it began snapping at him with a mouth where some of its pages should be. As Alfonzo wrestled with the hungry book Oskar pushed aside some books on how to take care of mutant cow-dolphins and saw a book dealing with birds of prey and one dealing with birds of paradise. Oskar, not sure what his bird was, looked at the two books for a second until shrugging and just got both of them for himself turning around to see Alfonzo wrestling with the book.

"Just pet its spine man, it'll calm down fast. If you need me I'll be looking for meatballs." Oskar walked away with Alfonzo trying that tactic out and found the book calmed down quite nicely. As he smiled Janna showed up and gently took the book from him speaking quickly.

"Sorry I need this for a second." As she scampered off Alfonzo blinked for a second and shrugged following Oskar while wondering how Oskar knew about the book.

* * *

Marco, Selene, and Ferguson rolled down the incline at full speed until they got to some sort of launching ramp that flung them into the _children's clothes_ section with a muffled bang and crash. After a few seconds of dust settling Marco stuck his head out and pulled himself out catching his breath and looked into a mirror to find he was wearing a pink and purple ballerina's outfit with tights and shoes included; he even had hair extensions 1 ½ feet long in a ponytail. As Marco gaped in shock a sloth showed up and began speaking,

"Sorry about that, our new automatic dresser is still in its prototype stages and can get a bit wonky." As the sloth finished speaking an arm reached out and pulled him into a dressing compartment with the sloth giving out a croak of shock as mechanical noises started from within. Marco shuddered slightly and turned to see Ferguson emerge from the clothes wearing a sailor's suit and diaper combo looking into the mirror for a second before smiling.

"I actually pull this off rather well." He turned to Marco and continued smiling. "You pull pink of rather well also." Marco stared at Ferguson for a second until a muttered curse got their attention as they saw Selene pull herself out of the pile. Marco chuckled slightly with Ferguson saying "You pull that off rather well as well despite your tomboy like nature." Selene blinked in confusion until she looked in a mirror and saw she was wearing a frilly white dress that would normally be found on dolls more than even little girls. And Marco had to admit it did suit her well hanging onto her child like body just fine framing her pale freckled face and unruly tuft of red hair.

Selene turned red faced and flustered lunging at Marco with her daggers drawn with Marco leaping to the side in a ballet pose with arms in a fighting stance ready to defend himself. As Ferguson stepped aside he knocked into an old fashion record player, 'Must be decoration despite the fact that it works.' he thought, and it began playing ballet music. Selene did a twirl and slash attack with both her daggers while Marco spun around her doing a forward kick that Selene ducked under, with her pausing a moment to admire how flexible Marco was to kick so high to the front. She leapt up going to punch with a bronze knuckle attachment to her daggers with Marco using his fore arm to deflect her punch and landed a blow on her cheek with an open palm so as not to break his knuckles. Selene took the hit and head butted his face going to kick his legs out from underneath him but only got one leg. Using this move Marco kicked upward throwing one of her daggers away and grabbed onto her other arm to keep himself from falling and to immobile it. Selene bent over under his weight for a second before getting back up and throwing Marco away with him spinning slightly to bleed off extra momentum. Marco then did a quick step forward and leapt up kicking at her which Selene dodged under and caught his waist trying to swing him around and throw him but forgot she was about the same size he was and was thrown by the momentum forcing her to hold onto him making them spin around in several circles before they finally separated. When Selene looked at Marco she saw he was holding her other dagger looking smug as he tossed it aside and leapt at her in his usual fashion which only now did she realize was surprisingly dainty. She twirled to the side and tried punching him but Marco deflected each of her blows as they circled each other on light feet that were on tiptoe for both of them. Marco seemed to sense an opening and threw a knuckle punch right into Selene's solar plexus making her breath come out in a whoosh. As she tried to steady herself Marco moved fast kicking up some cloth from the floor and twirled Selene in it to try and trap her as best he could. Selene fought back as best she could but once her feet were entangled Marco spun her away until she fell into some sort of closet with the door banging shut behind her and a lock clicking. As Selene began cursing Marco let out a deep breath and turned, still in a ballet pose, to Ferguson who was now applauding with several other onlookers. It was only now that Marco realize that Ballet music had be playing and he got red faced getting out of his pose addressing the crowd.

"Well… that's what several years of ballet practice since you were six can get. Now we need to head out and help Star." Marco grabbed his friend and pulled with Ferguson giving off a complaint.

"But what about our regular clothes and a second show?" Marco face palmed and continued pulling.

"We don't have time for either, we need to help Star now!" The crowd sighed in disappointment with one boy asking his mother if he could get a ballerina's outfit.

* * *

"Monkey Avalanche" Star shot a tide of monkeys that buried a quartet of barbarians under and became a pile of shrieking and biting creatures. Star moved her fist up into a _power to the people_ sign smacking a barbarian out from behind her a solid 5 feet into a stack of kitty litter bags which promptly buried him. "Light dancer" Star shot a beam of energy the compelled one of the barbarians to start dancing an Irish jig that he couldn't stop and danced down an isle out of sight. Dumnorix came up behind Star but was stopped by Janna who looked up at him in a determined way to which he chuckled cracking his knuckles.

"Step aside girl; I don't offer warnings often but we both know I can…" Janna, not waiting for him to finish, lifted up a can of pepper spray and sprayed him directly into the eyes. "*painful screaming* Why does everyone keep spraying stuff in my face!?" Janna pulled out a taser and zapped him in the gut making him stagger then kneed him in the groin making him fall over in pain before speaking.

"Cause it's easy, and does a lot of damage." She smiled and turned to see Mavis coming up behind Star. Janna threw the book beast she took from Alfonzo at Mavis but one of the barbarians leapt in kamikaze style and took an angry book to the face. "Star, behind you!" Janna's yell only served to startle Star however as Mavis sliced off Star's arm with her sword and picked up the wand that came with it.

Star hissed in pain and looked to see Mavis holding her wand that was changing shape in her hands making a look of shock come across Star's face. With a shrill of laughter Mavis hoisted the wand as it turned slate gray with the haft extending to two feet in length. The orb shrunk slightly losing its wings and changed to be mirror like all over except reflecting dark and twisted images with what seemed to be a twisted 9 pointed crown made of black Iron on top of it that was badly made. Mavis laughed manically turning to Star and shooting a beam of silvery light that blasted Star against a book shelf making her collapse in pain. Mavis strolled up to Star and pointed the wand at her smiling and said,

"I heard you got healing abilities from your father; care to test them out?" Star looked up in fear as light gathered to the wand with Mavis laughing maniacally.

But before Mavis could fire a gigantic meatball rolled on top of her with Mavis giving out an oof in shock as the wand was also knocked out of her hand to skitter to a stop in front of Star. Oskar and Alfonzo ran up to the meatball as Star picked up her wand with her good arm making it transform back into its regular form. As she got up she felt arms around her picking her up and turned to see Janna and Marco, who was in a ballerina's outfit, standing right behind her with worried expressions on their faces.

Marco spoke to Star "Star, are you ok. I saw what Mavis was about to do but…" Star leapt over and hugged him sobbing slightly in relief as Marco held her close. "There there, it's all over now." They stayed that way for a few seconds with Star picking herself up and shaking herself off speaking to everyone.

"I'm fine, it's not the first time my live has been threatened but the fact Mavis could control the wand took me off guard." She turned to everyone who was now staring where her right arm should have been with Star chuckling at them. "Oh this?" Star focused her mind and got the arm to regrow with a bit of effort leaving her slightly exhausted. "Don't worry, I'm a quick healer." She smiled at them as they gave mixed looks of awe and confusion.

Janna spoke up "That was so awesome Star, how did you do that?" Star smiled answering her.

"I'm half Septarian; I can heal from any wound really quickly. And what's more my dad is renown among Septarians for his healing ability, which I have even though it takes a lot of effort to do so." Star smiled at them with Oskar thinking out loud.

"It's at times like these that I'm reminded you're not human man. You act like it so often I forget that you aren't." Ferguson, wearing a sailor boy outfit with a diaper for some reason, smacked Oskar upside the head reprimanding him.

"Isn't it clear Star is sensitive about this stuff? Don't think out loud unless if we have the ok from someone." Oskar nodded numbly looking ashamed of himself as Star chuckled slightly.

"I'm ok with that guys, I just don't like drawing attention to my… non Mewman features." Star brought her tail around holding it and rubbing it softly. Everyone smiled at Star with Janna bringing up the obvious question with Marco and Ferguson.

"So why are you guys dressed up like that?" Everyone chuckled slightly with Marco looking annoyed before answering.

"Children's clothing area. We were forcibly dressed. I'd rather not go into detail. Can we go home now?" Star smiled and motioned for everyone to gather around the meatball before raising her wand.

"Mystical exit beam." Star shot them forward with Marco ready with the scissors to cut a hole back home. As they were leaving one of the sloths called out to them.

"Hey, are you going to pay for those?" Star chuckled and yelled out,

"Oh, Mavis there has the bill. Just charge her." They went through with the portal closing behind them. The sloth turned to Mavis who was covered in meat and sobbing slightly lying prone on the ground.

"I had it. I had it in my hands and it conformed to me. It was mine." Mavis looked up as the sloth's shadow fell over her with him looking annoyed.

"So, you are the one paying for this mess?" He motioned showing barbarians in various states of hurt with a trail of destruction a mile wide. Mavis got up grumbling and pulled out a purse which she opened with a moth fluttering out of it. Looking in shock at her purse she looked up at the now very annoyed sloth in fear.

"*nervous chuckling* Guess either Dumnorix or Selene has the bill." She smiled nervously which quickly turned to fear as the sloth growled at her and leapt on her slicing with his claws and biting her fiercely.

* * *

"So it says here I need a hood too put over his head so he calms down whenever he is stressed." Oskar looked over the book and turned back to Floyd who was devouring the meatball at a pace so rapid he was actually gaining on the meatball's regenerative properties slightly. "Hmmmm, where to find a hood for you man?"

Marco and Star were watching as Oskar learned how to take care of his bird smiling in the process at how cute the bird actually looked when it wasn't trying to eat people. Marco looked at Star and his smile lessened when he remembered what had happened back at Quest Buy.

"Star, are you really ok?" Star smiled nodding and turning to him.

"I've actually been in far more dangerous situations many times Marco, I'm not made of glass." Marco's look became conflicted and Star looked down slightly. "I mean it may seem that way at times but I'm tougher then I look. All that was unusual there was that the wand conformed to Mavis which freaked me out a little." Star smiled up at Marco who asked one final question.

"Could she have killed you even with your healing?" Star sighed and looked down before answering.

"Yes. Unlike a full blooded Septarian healing exhausts me and if I have to heal too much at once I will enter the equivalent of a coma that could last indefinitely depending on the wound. Or if she had gotten my heart or brain I would be dead immediately. I also can't heal from burn wounds from a fire at Septarian speed as well." Star sighed and leaned into Marco who reflexively put his arm around her holding her close. "You know what, can I just go home and have some zen time. Trips to the store should not be this hectic." Marco smiled and nodded feeling a blush come on as he remembered what Star looked like in zen time. Star peaked up at him as they began walking and asked him "What exactly are you thinking about?"

"Nothing, let's go home Star." Marco walked briskly with Star right behind him chuckling at what she knew was in his mind.

 **Wow this was a long chapter, but I couldn't divide it properly so you are stuck with one huge helping.**

 **One question I have gotten several times that I think I need to address with an answer, Oskar is in fact a homosexual. I thought the hints I provided would be enough but I guess I have to confirm it. I did this NOT to bump Oskar out of the way so he would not be a love interest for Star but to mix up the story a little and give a homosexual character some much needed center stage time; they are poorly underrepresented even today. And as a side note, I also made Janna and Oskar Marco's friends from the start to also mix things up as well.**

 **Well now that all this is said and done, I think it's time for a vacation; a Diaz family vacation ;)**


	11. Diaz Vacation Pt 1

"… and that's what happened with your aunt Helsinki's latest invention. I seriously think she needs to at least take a breather and consider whether things will work in real life before testing them." Toffee finished up his story as Star chuckled at the events her parents were going through as she talked to them.

At least once a week Star talked to her parents over the mirror just to connect with them. Most people would find it strange that a kid wanted to spend so much time with her parents but Marco was right strangely enough, her parents were pretty cool. Star also liked to hear how things were going back home as she seemed to be missing a surprising amount. Currently her father looked exhausted over the events that had happened recently and her mother seemed like her normal laid back yet prim and proper woman that she was; an odd mixture if Star did say so herself. As Toffee finished his story Moon began speaking up.

"Real quick, I won't be available for the next few days as I am going to a convention to help educate people on throne posture. I know it doesn't seem like a big issue and it shouldn't but for some reason people are getting it wrong. There are way too many health issues associated with slouching and sitting awkwardly in a throne that people don't seem to realize." Moon outright face palmed at it with Toffee giving her an amused look and Star looking confused. "No matter, we have to end the call now Star; good luck helping your friend take care of his pet bird." Star smiled and waved good bye.

"Good bye mom and dad, I love you." As Star turned off the mirror she saw the happy looks from her parents that she seemed to be getting more often when she told them she loved them. 'Why is this such a big deal to them? I say it to them all the time.' Star thought to herself as she heard a knock on the door. "Come in." Marco opened the door smiling and holding up several strange pouches that Star assumed could be draped across ones' shoulder like a backpack.

"Hey Star, what do you think of these gifts? They're called fanny packs." Marco took one and slung it across his waist with the pack sitting in the front. Star stared at it for a second in awe with Marco's smile falling and looked a little concerned. "Star, is everything ok." Star walked up and took one of the fanny packs holding it in front of her.

"So brilliant, a pouch that's bigger than a pocket yet more convenient than a backpack that doesn't need your arms to carry it. This is a glorious invention Marco; who are these for?" Star smiled at Marco who gazed at her a little worried before answering.

"My parents, it's their anniversary and I wanted to get them a gift for it." Star's smile fell as she began speaking.

"Awww, why didn't you tell me? I could have gotten them something as well." Marco looked at her and smiled.

"That's just it, I have an idea of what you can give them; if you're willing of course?" Star smiled and nodded as Marco began leading them down stairs.

Angie and Raphael were on the couch giving each other lovey-dovey looks while Angie was pulling on some stray chest hair from Raphael. Marco came in holding the fanny packs aloft and proudly proclaimed them to his parents.

"Mom and dad, I'd like to give you these for your anniversary." Angie and Raphael smiled and got up looking them over as they took them from Marco with Raphael speaking.

"Oh, they even have multiple pockets and have stuff prepacked in them. This is even my favorite color." Angie looked up at Marco smiling.

"Thank you Marco. We didn't even ask for gifts yet you got us some." Angie went back to looking at the pack as Marco smiled leaning over to Star and whispered in her ear.

"These things are really commonplace in our world but they love anything I get them for some reason." Star smiled at Marco and stepped forward and began speaking.

"I wanted to thank you two for hosting me on earth so well despite the fact that you knew my parents very little." Angie and Raphael smiled at Star and brought her into a hug before she could continue speaking.

"Oh Star, no need to thank us. It's always a pleasure to have your kind energy around the house." Angie spoke with Star feeling a blush creep in as they released her and she stepped back rubbing her arm as she spoke.

"Well regardless, knowing this is your anniversary I wanted to get you a gift to." They looked at her interested while Marco stepped up behind them and gave Star a thumb up. "So how about a quick trip to my home kingdom Mewni." The parents gasped in shock nearly dropping their fanny packs as Marco gave her a satisfactory nod with Star smiling. Raphael turned around and asked Marco,

"Is that why you got us these fanny packs?" Marco nodded smiling as he replied.

"Of course, I also wanted to see what Star's home looks like so I planned this all out." Marco smiled as his parents jumped around happily as Star looked at him in confusion sidling up next to Marco.

"You got me to agree to this just…"

"I didn't plan this out Star; this was just a lucky coincidence honestly. I'm not that good." He winked at Star as she blinked in confusion before turning back to the parents as they bounced around some more. They eventually pulled apart with Angie asking Star the question on everyone's minds.

"When do we leave?" Star smiled pulling out her dimensional scissors before replying with an amused smile.

"How soon can you be ready for a day trip?"

* * *

"Welcome to Mewni! In particular the town to Verksgald." Star pointed around with Marco and his parents looking around in awe.

They were standing in what appeared to be a section of a medieval town surrounded by houses made of stone on the first floor and some sort of timber lined whitewashed walls from the second story up with roofs made of some sort of material that appeared surprisingly similar to roof shingles back on earth. The road they were standing on was cobblestone and wide enough for a car to drive through but without much room to spare. There weren't many people around them but they could see several people walking down the road a certain direction giving them strange looks as they walked by. The people appeared to be wearing clothes surprisingly well made and very colorful despite the fact that everything appeared to be made in medieval times. Angie and Raphael immediately began taking pictures of everything around them; including one person who, much to Marco's amazement, actually posed for their cameras before walking off. Although Marco did hear her muttering something about how she had never seen a camera like that before.

Angie finally spoke up, "This reminds me of my semester of college in France when I visited that rural village." Star smiled at them and began shepherding them while speaking to them.

"Well today seems to be market day so if everyone could follow me I'll show you where all the action is." Star led the trio down the street passing by people either walking on their own or carrying packs and even the occasional person pulling a hand cart of some sort. While everyone gave them odd looks no one seemed to be hostile except for one old woman that Raphael saw whose gaze turned sour when she saw Star and spat to the side muttering 'damn mudbloods' before moving on. 'I see why she is worried about pleasing us.' Raphael thought to himself repressing some of his own nasty memories as he continued following Star.

The group made it through town quickly emerging into a rather large market square, or more accurately a rectangle of sorts. The place was around 300ft by 100ft and was filled with around one thousand people with multiple stalls that were peddling their wares in very loud voices.

"Shrunken heads! Buy one get one half off!"

"Hunting arrows! Made with real Gryphon feathers to never miss your target!"

"Pickled piggoats feet! Treat yourself while at the market!"

"Exotic spices! Have a taste rimal bayda'!"

"Pickling juice! Make your own pickled piggoats feet!" Marco noted that this one had a line of people despite how fast they were serving customers.

Star spoke up getting the groups attention, "Unlike your world every little farming Dun, or what you would call a village, doesn't have stores to sell most items commoners need. Because of this people need to travel to a market in a set town in order to get resources that the local blacksmith or carpenter can't provide. About half of the people here probably traveled up to half a day's time in order to get here." Star smiled with Angie and Raphael snapping pictures while Marco asked a question.

"Is this a small town if half the people here are from out of town?" Star looked at him blankly for a moment before realization came across her face and she chuckled answering him.

"No this is about average size honestly. Your world's convenience allows it so people can live in very close proximity all the time. Most people in Mewni are farmers and have to live spread out across the land. We only have densities like in your world around several major cities because of this." Marco looked at Star trying to absorb all of this with Angie chiming in.

"She's right you know." She winked at them and continued taking pictures.

They continued through the market with people giving them odd looks but acting friendly to them all the same; although the Diaz's could sense the very rare person whose friendliness seemed strained when they saw Star during their interactions. They brushed it off though and occasionally one of the commoners would come up and talk to them finding out they were from another dimension. This didn't actually turn out to be as big a thing as the Diaz's would think though peddlers did try to draw them aside quite a bit to try and sell them items. One inparticular got Angie's attention which seemed to be some sort of knickknack stall.

"Random trophies to take back to your home dimension." The stall owner smiled at them as Angie picked up a wind chime made out of bird bones.

"I'll take this please." Angie took out her wallet and held out some cash with the seller giving her a strange look before speaking.

"What sort of currency is this?" Angie's face fell as she realized that cash would not be accepted until Star stepped forward pulling out some sort of silver coin.

"Will this pay for it?" The seller looked at the coin with big eyes and nodded before taking it and smiling as the group moved on. "Sorry guys, I didn't think you would buy anything so I didn't tell you about our currency." Angie smiled as she answered Star.

"It's fine, honestly I should have known that considering what I know about medieval times." Star smiled back as they continued to move on. They passed by several more stalls and took a look at several set stores that were the ground level of multiple houses around the square. One inparticular Raphael seemed to be drawn to that sold thick clothing and quilts and he began going through the quilts with a nostalgic smile and a tear in his eyes. Marco and star looked at him confused while Angie chuckled slightly as a teenage girl came forward to talk to Raphael.

"Interested in mama moonie's prize quilts?" Raphael dried his eyes as he turned to her responding happily.

"These remind me so much of the quilts my mama made for me and my family; just got caught up in the moment." The girl smiled at him nodding.

"Yeah, we get that a lot." She smiled and walked away. "Enjoy the market."

Star smiled at the exchanged until something caught the corner of her eye making her turn and then double take in fear. In front of a store that sold traditional hunting weapons made of wood, stone, and bone; appropriately called _Primal smith_ ; Star saw her mother with Butler in tow going over some sort of hunting spear testing its tip. Star began hyperventilating and grabbed Marco pulling him into a side alley with Marco giving a squawk in alarm as Star pinned him to the wall.

"I need your help now. I just saw my mom!" Star looked around in fear as Marco looked at her in confusion. "I'm not supposed to be on Mewni, if she finds me I am dead." Marco grabbed Star's hands and spoke softly to her.

"Deep breaths Star, deep breaths." Star breathed in and out several times until she had calmed sufficiently enough for Marco to speak to her. "Just tell her you're taking my parents for a tour of Mewni, she seems pretty cool." Star grabbed Marco and shook him slightly rattling him around.

"Marco she's my mom, she will punish me if she finds me here. I'm not supposed to have dimensional scissors as well and bringing Angie and Raphael would only make things worse in her eyes. It doesn't matter how cool she seems to be to you she's still my MOM Marco!" Marco took a moment to take it all in as Star began speaking again. "I should get them out of here and get back home." Marco stopped Star cold.

"Whoa there now this doesn't need to be panic mode yet, we just need to move my parents elsewhere." Marco smiled at Star as she nodded and calmed down.

"Ok ok, we just need to…"

"GET OUT OF TOWN!" The duo looked over in shock to see a short fat guy come up with some sort of flyer. "And go on vacation to Pete's hunting lodge; you get to keep what you kill." He smiled at them with Star and Marco looking at each other in concern as he continued speaking. "Twould be a good place to take your hybrid girlfriend and get her blood running." He elbowed Marco with the two of them blushing profusely before Marco answered.

"We aren't a couple; maybe a couple of friends but nothing more." Star looked Marco in shock.

"I thought we were bestie's." Marco blinked before responding.

"Oh right, best friends; forgot the bestie part of it." Star hugged him smiling before realizing what they had just done and saw the guy walking away waggling his eyebrows at them not believing a word they said. "Ok, let's get moving Star."

* * *

A few minutes later they were standing outside of the town in front of what appeared to be a 25 foot tall wall made out of some sort of mixture between stone and concrete with crenellations and machicolations along the top. They were standing on a road which led to a gatehouse of sorts where there were several guards on the walls and down at the gates shepherding a short line people into the town while stopping to check carts for something. Not too far off in the distance to their left sat what appeared to be a castle with a two story high keep that seemed rather small around and surrounded by some sort of wooden wall in bad repair. Angie and Raphael immediately took out cameras and began snapping pictures of the wall smiling.

"Amazing what can be built with medieval technology, right dear?" Angie looked to the side at Raphael who rolled his eyes slightly.

"Indeed sweetie, indeed." He continued to snap pictures as Star watched them smiling but also keeping an eye out for her mom. As she did so Marco called out to her getting her attention.

"Hey Star?" Star turned to Marco smiling as he pointed to the castle in the distance. "Is that a castle Star?" Star nodded not even turning to see the castle Marco was pointing at. "Why is it so small, partially made out of wood, and seems like it has been torn down?" Star chuckled with Angie laughing and answering Marco before Star did.

"Historical castles were not big stone monstrosities that Disney fantasy has led us to believe. In fact most castles only had a few rooms and were sometimes made completely out of wood to cut costs as only really wealthy nobles could have the resources for all stone keeps of great size. As for the deconstruction, if the castle didn't have anyone inhabiting it those are just resources for the taking. Right Star?" Marco and Angie turned to Star who looked at Angie in shock.

"You are… correct actually. How did you know that?" Angie looked slightly full of herself as she answered.

"I took multiple courses in medieval history including castle design. I'm your expert on the castles just like those on earth." Raphael seemed to sigh in the background murmuring something that sounded like,

"Don't get her started again." Marco shook his head and asked Star his next question.

"So are there any large castles in Mewni, aside from castle Butterfly?" Star smiled eagerly as she answered Marco showing off her knowledge.

"Well first off, there are several castles of a size you might see in your stories of fantasy here in Mewni. In return for a service to the Butterfly family the queen will use her magic to help the noble family construct a castle of the largest size you could make a castle without magic at a fraction of the costs. If they had contributed something more further on down the line the queen will come by again and help the noble build a castle that resembles something that you might see in one of your fantasy stories. It is considered a great reward, honor, and privilege to have it done." Star smiled as Angie and Raphael ohhed in awe and began taking pictures of the castle with Marco looking at her in confusion as Star answered his unspoken question. "I learned all this from my studies before I came to earth, paying attention in class does help you know." Star winked at Marco as Angie and Raphael began moving towards the castle. "Come on; let's have your parents take a closer look." Star moved forward with Marco following in interest.

Once they got close to the castle it became really clear just how heavily deconstructed it was with even most of the wooden outer wall having been ripped away to be scrapped for resources. Angie and Raphael continued snapping pictures as they passed through the outer gate with Marco marveling at how impressive it was still. Star looked at him smiling as they entered the inner bailey to see that there was actually a group of people there harvesting stones from the inner keep and loading them onto a cart for transportation. Angie looked around in confusion for a second before turning to Star to ask another question.

"Where are the other buildings in here; an inner bailey doesn't have just a keep in it you know?" Star smiled before answering.

"Most of the buildings were torn down for resources to help build the town or to be exported for other purposes. Considering what you knew about castles wouldn't you have known that?" As Angie looked for an answer and couldn't find one Marco and Raphael began chuckling behind here making her give them a sour look that shut them up before turning back to Star.

"How long has this castle been abandoned?" Star sighed and looked up at the keep as if wishing things had gone differently.

"You know how my mom fought a civil war in the past." The trio nodded as Angie and Raphael had heard form Moon and Star had told Marco a few things about the rebellion. "Well after Moon won the throne peasants began revolting against local lords outraged at what they had done to the peasantry in the past. According to my mom barely even 1 out of 5 nobility managed to survive these purges and the civil war combined leaving a lot of broken or completely destroyed noble houses. And since my mom decided not to elevate many people to nobility standard many of the castles now lie abandoned." The trio looked at each other in concern as Star shock herself giving them a smile. "But that was nearly 20 years ago, no need to dwell too much on the past and have it hold us back." Star looked over their shoulders seeing a familiar flash of silver hair and nearly panicked when she saw her mom approaching the ruined castle. "Well, do you people want to see something else, like the nearby wildlife?" she smiled nervously as Angie and Raphael smiled going along with her.

"Oh, we love nature." Raphael spoke as the two followed Star out of a gap in the outer wall towards the nearby woods with Marco looking around in concern as he followed them.


	12. Diaz Vacation Pt 2

**I forgot too put this in at the end of the last chapter, but a lot of the facts given out by Angie and Star are in fact actual truths behind Medieval European castles and history. I got them from a guy named Shad at a Youtube channel known as Shadiversity; a channel dedicated to Medieval warfare and Architectural history as well as novel writing and practical applications to fantasy elements. Look this guy up, he is awe inspiring.**

As they entered the woods it became clear that these woods were not like those back on earth to the Diaz family. Many of the trees looked similar but in a manner that a house cat looked like a tiger when compared to each other as these trees were massive and looked fierce for some reason. The other plants seemed strangely made and in some cases actually seemed to move as if they were alive. The canopy was also so thick that no light or wind seemed to pierce the branches despite the fact that it was a sunny day outside with a mild breeze. Marco looked around in concern as the group moved into the woods and turned to ask Star a question.

"Say, Sta-"but he paused mid word as something seemed different about Star, but in a good way. He noticed Star was a lively and happy girl a good deal of the time but she had this atmosphere of anxiety and caution about her that seemed to always be present no matter what. Out here in the woods however all that just melted away with Star actually bouncing along even though a few minutes ago she seemed really nervous about something. In fact, it seemed like she was even younger then she should have been chatting to the parents about what wildlife was in these woods.

"So stick close as unlike earth wildlife here is a lot more powerful. You don't want to make a misstep and have the wildlife eat you ya know." Star turned to Marco as she was skipping and addressed his question. "Yes Marco, what is it?" She looked directly into his eyes which he noticed were a clear and calming purplish-green which was INCREDIBLY pretty to the point where he blushed slightly before answering.

"Uhm… is it really safe to be out here?" Star laughed outright at Marco's soft voice with the noise echoing through the trees.

"On your own no; but with me yes." She pulled Marco close and waved her hand out around them. "If you get scared, just let the princess protect you." She smiled winking at him and followed the parents keeping a close eye on them while Marco struggled to keep up. Star gestured over to several purplish flowers speaking like a tour guide, "Those are beaked lilies, be careful as they are part animal and will rip apart easy prey for excess nutrients." As the parents took pictures of them one of the flowers rose up with beneath it a creature looking like a moss covered praying mantis and owl hybrid gnashing its beak slightly at the group before burying itself. Star smiled and showed them what seemed to be a row of teeth sticking out of the ground. "This is a snap trap plant that functions like a giant version of a Venus flytrap so don't step in it." Star took out some gum from Marco's fanny pack and threw it into the ring making the plant rise up and try chewing it. The parents took more pictures with Marco huddling closer to Star as they pushed deeper into the forest. "This is a whispering willow; don't believe a word you hear around it as it confuses you to keep itself safe from lumber jacks." Marco looked at the silvery wooded tree that looked like a willow back on earth with long branches that appeared to be made out of steel. As he began hearing whispering in his head to drink the life blood of an intelligent creature he panicked slightly and grabbed onto Star.

"It's speaking to me, can we move on?" Marco's voice came out as nearly a whisper which his parents chuckled at but Star sympathized with.

"Alright, let's move on to the next part of…" Star stopped mid-sentence when she heard wing-beats and looked up squealing in excitement. The group looked up in shock to see a creature who had the top half of a hawk with red and black feathers and a bottom half that was a silvery black spotted leopards hind quarters swoop in through the branches to light down next to Star who immediately hugged it. "BUCK BEAK! I am so happy to see you again!" The creature hugged Star back with one taloned foot and its wings chittering softly to her. The creature began doing a mixture of chirping and squawks which Star seemed to understand much to Marco's shock. "Well, just bringing my host family on earth here for a quick trip to Mewni. They are over there. Guys this is Buck Beak; a Gryphon who has been a dear friend of mine for many years. Buck Beak, this is Angie and Raphael Diaz, my host parents on earth." Star gestured to them with Buck Beak immediately sniffing them and began chirping at them with Angie and Raphael taking picture of him. Much to Marco's surprise after the initial few photos of him shielding his eyes his began posing for pictures with his wings outstretched taking a dignified pose.

"Um Star, this is your friend?" Marco looked at Star who just smiled like an idiot at Marco nodding excitedly.

"When I was a younger I began going out into the woods all the time as I loved it out here and still do." Star did a big twirl with her hands outstretched as if gesturing to the woods around her. She then turned back to Buck Beak gesturing to him "I found this guy trapped under a log and helped him free one time I was out here and we have been friends ever since." Marco's parents had seemingly stopped taking pictures of Buck Beak focusing on something else so Buck Beak came over and looked at Marco closely putting his head within several inches of Marco's.

"Um… high Buck Beak." Marco waved to Buck Beak who sniffed Marco softly before taking a few steps back and sitting down chirping softly at Marco.

Star chuckled and began speaking, "He says it's nice to meet you Marco as a friend of Star is a friend of his. Now hug him and rub him on his right cheek." Star looked at Marco expectantly as he cautiously stepped forward extending his hand and rubbing the Gryphon's right cheek to which Buck Beak closed his eyes and began purring pushing his head into Marco's hand despite the fact that his head was ten times the size of Marco's hand. "See, you can be friends easily." Marco continued to rub Buck Beak for a second with the Gryphon pulling Marco into a hug that made him gasp and his eyes bulge out. After a second Buck Beak let him go and took a step back chittering to Star who blinked her eyes in shock before stepping up to Marco herself and began sniffing him.

Marco tried taking a step back saying, "Whoa there now, is there a sniffing convention in town." Marco tried stepping back again but Star pulled him in close sniffing him closely. Marco stood there blushing for a second as Star sniffed him deeply before stepping back holding her nose with Buck Beak chirping in a form of what sounded like laughter.

"Yuck, have you ever washed your hoodies Marco." Marco stamped his foot in annoyance as Buck Beak turned and pointed with his beak to something to which Star ran over and looked over a fallen log before turning around with a determined look on her face. "It seems mom has followed us into the woods for some reason. I'd say it's time to go Marco. Ok Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, it's time to…" Star stopped mid-sentence for them to see that Angie and Raphael were long gone and nowhere in sight.

Buck Beak screeched in what Marco was almost certain was a "That can't be good." Marco took a deep breath in and out and began speaking.

"Can't you guys just smell them out?" They both gave him deadpan stares with Buck Beak chirping in annoyance and Star responding to Buck Beak in a dead pan manner.

"Yeah, I can't believe he just thought we were hunting hounds too. Just because we have a stronger sense of smell then you humans do doesn't mean we can track something by smell alone." Marco sighed rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry guys, I was just being hopeful. I just don't my parents to get hurt out here as I was the one who suggested coming to Mewni in the first place." Marco hung his head as Buck Beak walked over and patted him on the shoulder chirping encouragingly as Marco reached out and rubbed his right cheek with Buck Beak purring. They were brought out of their bonding however when they saw Star looking down where they had last seen Marco's parents and looking at footprints.

She looked up beckoning to them, "Come on, we need to find them before something else does." Star took off on all fours with Buck Beak picking up Marco and putting him on his back before following Star. Marco held on for dear life and Buck Beak sped up to follow Star at a fast speed making Marco marvel at just how athletic Star was.

They followed the trail his parents left behind for a few minutes with Star proving just how good a tracker she was until they came across the entrance of some sort of cave. Marco could tell right off the bat that this was not going to be fun considering that the entrance to the cave was shaped like a skull with a reddish colored mist pouring out of its eyes and mouth. He turned to look at Star who put up her wand and lit it up with a pinkish glow and stepped forward to the cave as Marco felt a shaking from underneath him. He looked own to see Buck Beak motioning to the entrance kneeling down slightly so Marco could get off which he did somewhat reluctantly as he had actually enjoyed it on Buck Beak's back towards the end of the ride. As if understanding how Marco felt Buck Beak clapped him on the back with one of his wings seemingly chuckling before moving into the cave. As they entered the cave, which appeared a lot bigger on the inside then the outside, Marco made ready to call out into the reddish warm mist that filled the cave but Star shushed him really quickly.

"*Shhhh* We don't know what's in here. Keep your voice down until we find some clue as to where they are." As Star finished her sentence they heard Buck Beak chirp from nearby motioning to a pile of clothes and equipment piled up against a rock.

Marco looked at the pile in worry before speaking, "Those… are my parents things. Why would they just drop that stuff?" As an answer they heard a soft but very deep rushing sound like that of a large creature breathing in and out.

Star turned her wand towards it revealing a draconic looking head of sorts that seemed to have three eyes, one of which opened at the light being shined into its face. The trio gasped backing up a little as the head began rising up on a long neck revealing that it did have three pink colored eyes, a pair of horns jutting out from the back of its head, and turquoise colored scales over its body. As if to add insult to injury five more heads rose up alongside the head that just came up and they all started hissing at the trio. Buck Beak acted fast gripping both of their collars with his beak and dragging them behind a rock and began screeching at them beating his wings fast.

Star quickly answered, "But I saw movement around that creature's gut that might be Marco's parents. We need to get them out before they start digesting." Buck Beak opened his mouth to answer but then closed nodding consent to that idea. "Marco, you have anything in that Fanny pack that can help us." Marco reached in going through it.

"Let's see, a whistle, a flame retardant poncho, a flashlight, and a mini mini book of knots. Not much to work off of Star." Star nodded and turned to look at the creature which had closed with them looming overhead.

"It'll have to do. Throw everything you have at it guys." Star aimed her wand yelling out "Dolphin slap" and sot a dolphin out to hit one of its heads.

Star leapt out from behind the rock ducking and rolling shooting another dolphin out slapping another head around and dodged under a third head as it snapped at her. A fourth head reared back to snap at her until a shrill whistling noise made it lose its focus and smash its head against a wall. Looking up in annoyance it saw Buck Beak flying around the cave very expertly with Marco holding on desperately to his back blowing the whistle directly into the creature's ears. Heads number one two and three went after Star while heads number four five and six went after Buck Beak and Marco all snapping in an enraged state. Star shot a Dolphin slap knocking around two heads again with a third head actually scooping her up in its mouth and tried swallowing her. Star let herself go down the throat half way before activating her wand and cutting the head off from the inside landing in a purplish sticky mess with the other two heads looking at her cautiously. Buck Beak navigated the cave expertly with Marco holding on for dear life trying to kick heads away but failing a good deal of the time. Honestly he didn't need to kick though as the heads smacked into each other and the cavern walls and ceiling far more frequently then they got close to the duo. As Buck Beak screeched at Marco he got an idea seeing one of the stalactites on the ceiling.

He turned to Buck Beak and spoke "I've got an idea, and you're not going to like it." He tried motioning to the stalactite and must have succeeded as Buck Beak chirped at him and flung him to the rock which he grasped onto as tightly as possible. As he hung for dear life he felt the rock didn't budge at all and started yelling at the creature down below getting its attention in a fashion. One of the heads tried striking at him with Marco climbing around the head as fast as possible trying to avoid its strikes. He felt like his plan, if you could call it that, was actually working as the rock was getting loose with each strike from the creature. Marco took the whistle and blew it as best he could waving to Buck Beak who fortunately seemed to get his message and drew the other two heads towards Marco. Marco turned smiling to see the head had stopped striking the stalactite and was moving in slowly licking its lips. Marco dropped the whistle and pulled out the flashlight flaring it in its eyes making it pull its head back shrieking in pain as the other two heads collided with the stalactite.

Meanwhile Star was moving as fast as she could but she was in dire straits. After she had cut off the ones head the other two tried blasting her with fire which she could do nothing but try to run from it. She tried at one point using a shield of magic but the flames just licked around it burning her skin in parts. She then tried hiding behind a rock and just barely avoided more burns. She then tried using a bubble of magic to protect her which one of the beasts picked up in its maw and threw against a wall shattering it and throwing Star to the ground. Star looked up at the two heads that seemed to be smiling now and got up ready to continue their game of cat and mouse until a loud crash got their attention from nearby. They looked to see three heads had been buried under a pile of falling rocks with one of them impaled under a stalactite with Marco standing on top of it pumping his fist in the air. As he did so Buck Beak swooped in from above and hit one of the remaining heads hard clawing and biting it making the head go down in a spray of purple blood. The other head tried to save the second head but was blasted by another dolphin shot that made it mad. It turned breathing fire on Star who was ready to run but Marco swooped in and threw the poncho over them blocking the flames.

He turned speaking to Star, "I don't think one of those heads under the rocks is dead Star, and I'm running out of ideas and equipment." Star sat in thought for a moment until an idea struck her.

"Do you still have that book of knots?" Marco nodded until a look of realization crossed his face.

As the flames let up Marco and Star leapt out and ran in two directions with the one head snapping after them and another head pulling out from under the rocks to snap at them. Marco leapt on top of the left head making it try to snap at him with Marco leading it to the right while Star led the right head around the inside curve and over the left head's neck. Marco led the left head over the right heads neck as well delivering a few key punches in its nose just to piss it off making it follow quickly and led it under and around the right head's neck. Marco then led the left head straight out with Star leading the right head over and under the left head's neck again baiting it by shooting some sparkly blasts just to make it mad making it follow her. Marco continued to led the left head back to the left with Star leading the right head back to the right with both heads snapping at them until they were stopped cold by the pressure brought on them by the expertly done square knot they just pulled off. The heads struggled trying to break free but only made the square knot tighter until the two heads simply choked to death falling over. Star and Marco smiled while panting and high fived as Buck Beak emerged from the mess that was another head limping slightly giving out a triumphant screech.

"Well done you three; you don't get this kind of entertainment back home." The trio froze and turned to see that Angie and Raphael were in fact naked in a hot spring and had been watching the fight the whole time.

Marco spoke first, "Mom dad, YOU'RE ALRIGHT. We thought you had been eaten by that thing and… wait if you guys are out here then what is in there." He pointed at the creature's gut which was in fact moving. The group stared at it in disgust and horror with Star speaking up first,

"Um Buck Beak, could you cut them out." Buck Beak nodded and began limping forward only to stopped by a rumbling as the creatures sixth head finally pulled out of the rubble looking at them in fury and screamed at them.

"*SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH*" Star, Marco, Buck Beak, Angie, and Raphael screamed right back in shock.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" And to just confuse everyone another person's screaming was heard up above them.

"WAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" The creature tried looking up but failed as a figure bearing a spear landed on the creature's head impaling its head making it fall to the ground dead. As the figure stood up and looked at them everyone double took at the figure that stood before them. Butler stepped out from behind some rocks speaking calmly as the hunter stood triumphant over it's kill.

"Another successful kill mistress." the figure looked down at Butler and smiled replying to him.

"Just another threat dealt with by Moon the Undaunted." Moon spoke as she stepped off of the creature.

"MOM!" Star gaped out at last looking up at her mom.

Moon stood there looking at her daughter and the Diaz's in surprise as she impaled her spear into the ground trying to figure out what was going on. As the groups stared at each other Buck Beak moved to the side to cut out the people still trapped inside of the creature's guts while everyone took Moon in. Moon struck an imposing image wearing some form of leather plate armor and kilt that seemed more designed for mobility and appearance than protection with the images of spiraling tattoos over parts of her exposed skin including a pair of tattooed feathered wings on her back. They stared at each other for a few seconds more before Moon turned to Star with a look of anger in her eyes replacing the confusion.

"Star Butterfly what are you doing on Mewni. We told you explicitly to remain on earth so what are you doing here? And what's more how did you even get here?" Moon focused Star down in a cold gaze as Star looked around for support seeing Butler step to the side, Raphael and Angie look at Star with a mixture of confusion and disappointment, Buck Beak gone helping people out of the beast, and Marco...

"It was my fault your majesty." everyone turned to look at Marco. "I suggested she bring us here for my parents anniversary as she wanted to get them a gift of some sort." Marco seemingly wanted to continue but Moon cut him off.

"That's no excuse for going along with him, and I will deal with you later." Marco backed up shriveling slightly. "So, are you going to answer my questions." Moon raised an eyebrow as Star frantically tried to answer.

"I just wanted to help them have a good anniversary and get to know them better after I learned about fanny packs... wait shouldn't you be at a convention about throne posture?" The Diaz's looked at Moon in shock as Butler began chuckling and Moon looked like her hand got caught in the cookie jar.

"Well I got a little lost dear, directions are so hard to follow these days at times. And when I heard about this beast I had to deal with it... after I learned about fanny packs. *Sigh* There was no convention Star, I made it all up." Star gaped in shock for a second before answering.

"But why?" Moon leapt up onto the dead creatures head striking a pose.

"Because I can't take the constant drull of courtly affairs and the lack of progress I'm making for the nation. I need to get out and do something with my hands to help the people of Mewni. It keeps me sane and makes me feel alive and accomplished; it also helps my throne posture as a bonus." Moon leapt off as Star chuckled slightly.

"That, actually sounds pretty cool." the two chuckled a little bit before hugging each other yelling "HUGS!" As the parted Star spoke again to her mom. "So what's going to happen now?"

"I didn't see you if you didn't see me, but just this once dear." They were brought out of bonding when they heard screams of joy from the creature's gut. The two turned to see a group of around 8 people running out of the cave in high spirits with a triumphant looking buck Beak getting a hug from a little boy before he scampered out. Star chuckled at the group and turned to look at the Diaz's who seemed happy for Star even though Marco was staring at something very intently... wait...

"MARCO THAT'S MY MOM!" Marco snapped out of his ogling blushing profusely with his parents and Butler laughing at him and Star turning red at what Marco was doing. Moon chuckled slightly and walked over to Marco speaking.

"That's quite alright my dear actually, boys and men alike do that on occasion when caught off guard." Moon knelt down in front of Marco smiling at him face to face. "Aside from some misguidance, thank you so much for taking care of my daughter. I know it's a lot of work but she is such a sweet girl right?" Marco gibbered a moment before answering.

"Umm, yeah she is a really nice person." Moon chuckled and kissed his cheek leaning in further to whisper into his ear.

"I'm taken, but if you are interested Star will have my image one day." Marco swore he felt steam come out of his nose and ears and had a nose bleed happen. Moon got up and walked away Marco's gaze following her curvaceous yet muscular figure crisscrossed with swirling tattoos and a pair of feathered wings tattooed on her back. Star walked up beside him looking at him and Moon in confusion as Marco spoke.

"Your mom is weird; cool but weird." Star looked at Marco who was openly ogling Moon again.

"Yeah, you're right. And will you stop ogling my mom?!" Star punched Marco making him fly into a rock wall with a muffle 'ow'.

 **"I know, kind of predictable but still really sweet. Up next, it's party time with** ***Phone ringing* Oh hold up a second people. *picks up phone and listens to chatter***

 **Wait what... what do you mean I have to take a vacation as well? I have people here relying on me to write a story. *chatter over phone*** **Planned out eight months in advance... ok I admit I put that on the back burner. Oh well, might as well give a warning then. *hangs up phone***

 **Ahem, bad news folks, publishing will be a little bit wonky for the next few weeks or so. I am on vacation and will be separate from the internet for 1.5 weeks at one point which means no updates at all. After the 24th of May there will likely be no updates until June 7th or 8th."**


	13. Brittany's Party Pt 1

**Spongebob Narrator: One vacation later. *Wandering Hippie comes skipping in and starts singing in reference to Useful76's comment***

 **"Star's mom has got it going on, s** **he's all I want and I've waited for so long.** **Star, can't you see? You're just not the girl for me.** **I know it might be wrong, but I'm in love with Star's mom."**

 **SN: Umm, you do not want to do that.**

 **WH: Why? *Toffee leaps in from the side with me giving out a croak in shock***

 **SN: One brutal beatdown later.**

 ***I am standing there slightly bandaged with Toffee looking at me intimidatingly* I wish to make clear now that the Moon x Marco thing was joke and that they will not be a thing. *Glances over nervously as Toffee walks away giving me the "my eye's on you" motion with his hand* In fact it's actually going to be Star and Marco eventually in the story. Now you are probably wondering why I just spoiled it for you all here and now. Well I'M AT MY WITS END WITH THE WAY THE SHOW IS DANCING AROUND STARCO LIKE THIS AND YOU DESERVE SOME STRAIGHT ANSWERS FOR ONCE! *pants for a few seconds to compose myself* I'm gonna be honest, I think the show's quality is in danger of declining... but enough of my pessimism, let's get moving.**

 **Update on the way I am presenting chapters, I will only be following the first season closely if at all at this point and incase if you are wondering about the Blood Moon ball or Mewberty they will be coming in eventually. I want to write a good story and that takes time as I am working alone right now, have a full time job, and work as a volunteer firefighter. (no joke there, I got a packed schedule.)**

 **And thank you all for caring enough about my story to follow and favorite and for that matter to comment on it. Especially allen Vth of all people, you are not only a good fan, you bother to tell me when I do something wrong making you a reliable source of help. Everyone, give him a little love for me please. :)**

 **Thanks for your attention and now back to the show of one chapter a week or more hopefully.**

"Hey it's that Star girl!"

"Hey gurl what's up?"

"How ya doin?"

"Hey there Star."

"Hi Star Butterfly."

Star walked along the hallway with students looking and talking to her all around her with eager excitement in their voices. Star looked around smiling in an appropriate fashion with a slight bead of sweat above her forehead as she waved back to everyone. As she walked through the hallway some people came up and asked or told her things directly.

One boy came up saying "Hey Star, want to be my lab partner?" He then dropped a beaker he was holding by accident making it shatter with a small explosion.

Star chuckled nervously and answered "Sure thing friend." As she moved on a chubby girl stepped out holding a pie.

"Hey Star, I baked you a pie!" Star smiled at her before answering.

"That is awesome." As Star answered another boy leapt out and ate the whole pie in one gulp.

"Hey Star, I ate your pie." He smiled as the girl looked on distraught with Star smiling nervously as she answered.

"I knew you would friend." She continued on high fiving the two as they put their hands up. She was then stopped by a brown eyed and brown haired girl wearing big glasses, braces, a pink shirt with a yellow star at the center of it. She also wore a turquoise skirt, a pair of devil's horns made of ice cream cones, and a paper Mache made tail hanging off of her waist. In addition she had rose colored hearts drawn on her cheeks and grey paint over her parts of skin messily done. She looked at Star and opened her locker revealing pictures of Star all over the interior.

"Hey Star, I covered my locker with pictures of you." She smiled at Star as Star's bead of sweat grew slightly. Thinking fast Star tapped her wand to a random locker with a whispered spell and answered the girl,

"That's weird… because I did it too." Star opened the now unlocked locker to reveal false pictures of the girl made of magic. "Friends Starfan13." Star opened her arms in a gesture that Starfan13 took as a hug and leapt into it.

"Friends Star Butterfly." The two parted with Star turning to see another person run up to her.

"Star girl, please zap me please!" He looked at her eagerly with Star's bead of sweat beginning to run down her face.

"I'm, not sure if I should…"

"PLEASE ZAP MEEEE!" He got in close to her making Star zap him at random turning him into a two headed piñata. "Oh gracias Star, gracias. No wonder everyone is you amigo." He talked to her seemingly overjoyed as Star dodged around a corner trying not to look like she was in a hurry.

"Aww thanks friends." Star turned the corner with people calling after her and broke into a desperate run until she got to her actual locker and stopped in front of it breathing heavily. 'Don't let them in don't let them see, be the good girl you always have to be.' Star thought to herself over and over trying to calm herself down as best as possible and somewhat succeeding. As she brought calm to her mind she heard a gaggle of kids moving in her direction and turned to see Brittany Wong with a girl on either side of her like lieutenants and a mob of kids following her closely. Brittany was out of her cheerleader outfit and in a white blouse with a lilac sweater vest and a darker purple skirt and her hair was thigh length despite the fact that she had been made bald just a few weeks ago or so. To her left a girl with a brown haired ponytail and green eyes stood in a cheerleader outfit looking extremely nervous with a twitch all over her face. To Brittany's right was another brown hired girl identical to the left one except for her hair being ear length bowl cut and had a calm confident look about her.

Brittany spoke in a high pitched annoying valley girl accent, "Oh shove off all of you, I will invite you if I want to invite you." She turned to see Star standing in front of her locker and gave a half smile that looked like a smirk. "Oh nice to see you Star, I just wanted to give this to you." She held out in her hand a piece of paper which made everyone gasp in awe.

"Star got invited."

"She got invited!"

"I knew she would."

"She is just that awesome."

As people cheered Star took the paper and looked at it in confusion before looking back up to see Brittany and her two lieutenants looking like they were expecting a bigger reaction from Star.

"Um… I don't mean to be ignorant but what am I being invited to?" Everyone gasped with Brittany looking like she had just been offended. Before Brittany could speak the girl to her left stepped forward and spoke a little too quickly.

"Only the most important social event of the WHOLE school year; Brittany's birthday party." The girl pointed up with Star seeing a blimp with a large screen on the side of it advertising for Brittany's birthday party. Star only had one thing to say,

"How did I miss that?" Brittany scoffed and pushed the nervous girl aside speaking to her condescendingly.

"Thank you Sabrina." Brittany then turned back to Star and gave her that half smile that looked like a smirk. "So you are coming aren't you." As Star stood there taking this in everyone looked at her expectantly as Star realized what Brittany said wasn't a question but a carefully worded order. The bead of sweat returned as Star thought rapidly with everyone leaning in subconsciously with Star finally blurting out the first words she could.

"Yes I'm coming." Everyone gave out a cheer with Brittany looking satisfied in a way that made Star extremely uncomfortable for some reason.

"Excellent. The time my party bus comes to pick you up is on the invitation. Be sure to bring a present and wear good clothes." Brittany walked away with the crowd following her so Brittany shouted at them again. "I will invite you if I want to so lay off peasants." Star stood there a second as the girl who had been standing at Brittany's right stepped up and began speaking to her in a voice that sounded like a purr.

"We have actually been watching you with interest for quite some time Star, observing how everyone views you. This party is going to be a bigger event for you then you might think." She patted Star on the head like one would a young child. "The name is Chantal, and consider yourself invited to the Heathers." She winked and walked off with Star staring after her.

Star stood there a second fully grasping what she had just agreed to go along with and began panicing grabbing onto her tail rubbing it with her eyes going cat pupiled and yellow as she looked around. 'What the BLOODY HELL did I just agree to?!' Star thought to herself as she opened her locker and stepped into it closing the door behind her while hyperventilating rapidly. She used her wand to create a paper bag and began using it to control her breathing as best as possible with some success. As Star did this she thought to herself of her happy place, 'The peaceful deep forest at night. You are staring out across a pond as a light mist floats through the trees. Your mom and dad at a camp fire not far behind you laughing with your friends and Marco is preparing Nachos for everyone.' Star smiled as the technique worked and she calmed down until she was startled by a knock on her locker door.

"Star, if you need Jackie's conch it's in the upper section of the locker." Star sighed as Marco spoke to her through the locker door and opened it to see him and his quartet of friend's right behind him. Their looks of worry got her to smile slightly at them and hold her tail close to her like a stuffed animal as she spoke to them.

"Sorry for worrying you guys; I was just sprung with something big." The group did not lean close to her although it seemed that way to her as she continued. "Brittany just invited me to her birthday party." Everyone leaned back and blinked in shock at Star's revelation making her nervous again. "Is this a big deal?" Star asked this knowing the answer as Ferguson answered her.

"Of course it is Star! Only the coolest kids are invited to Brittany's birthday party." Ferguson smiled broadly with Oskar and Marco joining him but Alfonzo and Janna were looking at Star with creeping suspicion.

Alfonzo spoke up, "Why would Brittany invite you to her birthday party though. Yes you are one of the coolest kids in school and popular by all means but Brittany still has a chip on her shoulder from when you messed up the school's football game." As everyone nodded thinking about it Marco tried to be upbeat about it.

"Hey, even Brittany knows when to let things slid for her own benefit." But he too was begening to get suspicious and asked Star, "Was Brittany accompanied by two cheerleaders and did any of them say anything weird to you?" Star perked up and began talking.

"Yeah to both. A nervous looking girl named Sabrina and a cool confident one named Chantal; they looked like lieutenants next to her." Everyone nodded looking eager but wary. "The only really weird thing they said came from Chantal saying something about me being invited to the Heathers." Everyone gasped at that with Alfonzo and Ferguson grabbing each other. As Star stood there getting nervous again Janna finally spoke up to everyone.

"Ok, this is either really good or really bad." Upon hearing that Star grabbed the conch Jackie had lent her from her locker and held ready to put it up to her ear at a moment's notice. "The Heathers, as they call themselves, are a group of girls that _control_ the school through a delicate and complicated system of hierarchies with them at the top. The fact that you have been invited to join them is a big thing indeed." Star nodded now both eager and worried but then looked at Janna with a question that Janna seemed to know before Star said it. "The reason why you haven't heard of them is because of two reasons. We are a group that is technically on the bottom of the hierarchy and while everyone will be _kind_ to us to promote wellbeing they won't _interact_ with us for fear of falling in status." Star nodded understanding what Janna meant having lived in a feudalistic society since birth. "And the Heathers also don't like being talked about as a group as it might draw to much attention from the faculty who have been trying to stop any form of hazing or cliques." Oskar spoke up adding in to Janna's words.

"Also, we just don't like talking about them as do most people. They're like the oppressive presence of our government man; we know it's there but we don't acknowledge it unless we have to." He strummed his keytar as Star marveled at how clever and relevant Oskar's words actually were.

Star spoke up, "So… what should I do now that I've accepted Brittany's invitation?" Janna, Marco, and Ferguson got big grins on their faces as Alfonzo looked nervous and Oskar blew a bit of hair from his eyes in tired exasperation. 'I've got a bad feeling about this.' Star thought as Marco's face changed slightly and shook his head before speaking.

"No, we shouldn't throw Star into something like this. She's too sensitive for what might happen." At this Star got offended and stood up straight staring Marco in the face making him lean back shocked.

"For your information I have lived with this stuff all my life and while I don't like to participate in it I can do so with expertise." Star was greatly exaggerating her abilities but she didn't want him to think that she was made of glass. "So tell me, what exactly are you planning?" Janna and Ferguson looked at each other eagerly before turning back to Star with Janna speaking.

"Brittany obviously wants to control or exploit your growing popularity by getting you under her thumb; so let's plan out something extreme for her birthday party that drives her insane…"

* * *

Brittany scoffed at the group following her as she went into an empty classroom shutting them out. She sighed in annoyance scratching at the annoying wig that she had to wear thanks to Star's actions at the football game.

"Don't scratch at it, it will only make it grow in uneven." Brittany growled turning on Sabrina making her jump back slightly.

"I don't care if it's uneven, only that it grows back in already. That damn Star girl set me back a full year on my hair; that scaly freak." Brittany threw her pile of remaining invitations on the table making a few scatter. Chantal chuckled slightly before speaking.

"Remember our Alpha bitch, we don't get mad we get even." She winked at Brittany who calmed down slightly before sitting on a stray desk as Chantal continued. "Do you even see the way she nervously glances around; we'll have her under our thumb by the end of the party. Or ruin her social life forever failing that." Chantal smiled calmly as Brittany cheered up and began speaking.

"I mean who does that princess even think she is coming into our school and being popular just like that?" She snapped her fingers to illustrate the point. "And what's more, she made one of our bottom groups a prime group rising in fame. She's just a nervous train wreck who looks like a hentai artist's depiction of a loli lizard magical girl." The other two girls chuckled at the description Brittany made with Sabrina's being slightly forced as she sat down, most of her nervousness gone, and began speaking.

"So, we invited her. How do we convince her that she should not refuse?" Brittany smiled carnivorously as she pulled out a pen and took one of the invitations turning it upside down.

"Well, we do a basic rumor and reliance check on Star. We reach her house last out of everyone all the while bringing back up rumors we spread about her ever since the football incident." The two others nodded in acknowledgement. "When we pick her up everyone will be abuze about her and we cause a few _accidents_ that put her in the center of attention; hopefully involving her tail to draw attention to her lizard features." Brittany drew a few images of Star being tripped by people stepping on her tail with the other two girls nodding along. "Then, thanks to her natural nervousness, she will become a train wreck that we can salvage with very little effort and put her alongside us the rest of the party. During that time we sweeten her up with promises and give her advice on how the school works and how she can exploit it giving her our seal of approval." Brittany held up a red hair scruchie from her purse while Chantal and Sabrina each held up a green one. "Depending on how she reacts to us we will indoctrinate her that evening or we can cause a major embarrassment for her on the sly and show her how well we can clean those things up as she is wallowing. Any questions?" Sabrina raised her hand with Brittany nodding to her.

"What if her friends get involved or she doesn't show up?" Brittany nodded acknowledging that they were legitimate questions before speaking.

"Well she won't refuse it, she is far to self-conscious for something like that. As for her friends, if they do interfere, I will get them thrown off in a heart beat by my boys; be assured of that." Brittany smiled with Chantal chuckling and Sabrina not looking especially happy.

* * *

Mavis was sitting on her throne in her hideout meditating as best she could, keeping a clear head was important for a ruler, she heard a warrior come into her thrown room huffing and puffing. Sighing she turned around to see Selene there kneeling before her.

"Well, what news do you bring?" Selene took another second to gather her breath before speaking.

"Star is attending a party of sorts on a mobile building of sorts, without her protector." Mavis smiled musing at this as Selene continued. "There will also be non-combatants we can use to leverage Star's _good-will_ into doing something stupid and potentially fatal." Mavis was grinning openly now as she turned back to Selene.

"Gather the warriors, we strike once Star has let her guard down and is distracted by the festivities." Selene smiled and ran out of the room to where the warriors usually gathered. "Star my girl, never let you guard down as we are always there right behind you." Mavis stood up smiling as someone shifted weight right next to her to see Dumnorix standing there. "Wait, what are…"

"Don't tell me you forgot I was here again right." He spoke in a wry manner as Mavis blushed slightly then growled in annoyance as he stared down at her with his one good eye.

"Just join the others and wait for my command." He nodded and followed the route which Selene had taken. "Are private quarters to much to ask for in the case of their war chief?" Mavis snorted in annoyance as she picked up her sword strapping it to her waist and walked out of the room to where the others were waiting.

 **By the way I called the three girls the "Heathers" in reference to a musical I know about know as "Heathers the Musical". If you know about this show... you should be worried about what's going to happen to Star.**


	14. Brittany's Party Pt 2

Marco went over a check list of things chewing the end of his pencil softly and checking things off one by one methodically. Next to him was a bored Janna and a slightly nervous Star standing next to the road in front of Marco's and Star's house waiting for Brittany's party bus to show up. As Marco found something about 9/10ths of the way through the list that he didn't just check off he turned to Janna who sighed in exasperation and spoke quickly.

"Marco, the bus could be here any minute now and you are going over unnecessary details. You do realize you and Star still need to change into your cloths right?" Janna lifted her eyebrow as Marco slowly smiled to her confusion.

"About that… Star, change us into our outfits." Marco held up the list to point out that changing was the point on the list with Star brightening up noticeably as she raised her wand.

"Radiant Shadow Transform!" Star lifted her wand enveloping her and Marco in a shimmering multi-colored light that put clothes on them. Star wound up in a loose black silk dress complete with green highlights, a formal fan, and even turned her wand into a formal lace umbrella. Marco was dressed up as a butler wearing a genuine tuxedo with a white bow tie around his neck and a white cloth over his left arm which also held a silver platter with a silver lid on it. Marco and Janna looked at the platter in confusion turning to Star who answered their unspoken question.

"It's free since its magic so I thought I would go all the way with it. As a bonus it can also conjure horderves on mental command." Star smiled as Marco lifted the lid to reveal a plate of nachos underneath it with Star immediately grabbing some and munching on them. Marco chuckled as Star munched with Janna chuckling and speaking to Star.

"You just ate three whole chickens accompanied by 3 pounds of various snack foods. How deep is the pit you call your stomach?" Marco turned to Janna answering her question as Star finished the pile of nachos.

"I am fairly certain there is no bottom to Star's stomach; and I'm just fine with that." He smiled at Star's enjoyment as he went over the last items on the list. "Well, that seems to be just about everything. Get ready as Brittany will likely pick you up last to make a big deal out of you." Star nodded just as they heard the sounds of a bus coming around the block and begin coming in their direction. "Janna, keep to the sidelines and stay in the shadows. I have no doubt they'll kick you off without hesitation the minute they spot you thanks to the "noodle incident" you played on Chantal two years ago."

"Already hidden." Star and Marco looked around to try and find Janna but she seemed to be long gone as they looked. Star smiled at Marco speaking quickly,

"I really like that girl." She then put on a polite yet haughty expression that Marco had seen nobles use in movies and turned to see the bus door open. Marco immediately put on an expression he thought was similar and unfurled a red rug Star had given him and put it over the steps up the bus to the main area. As Marco stepped up into the main area people looked at him in confusion as he finished setting the rug down and turned to everyone holding his right arm out in presentation and bowed to everyone.

"I present to all of you, princess Star Butterfly of the Kingdom of Mewni." Marco repressed the urge to chuckle at his exaggerated Spanish accent that he was sure would have gotten laughs if everyone wasn't so shocked. Everyone gasped silently and talked among themselves as Star entered the bus with Marco hearing several muttered phrases all in some way meaning "She's so pretty". Marco stood up and looked at Star as she curtsied to everyone smiling politely and had to agree with them; Star did look really pretty.

Star turned to where Brittany was sitting and spoke coolly, "I beg a pardon, but where might I put your present and be seated myself?" Brittany blinked in shock for a few moments before answering.

"Over on the table over there and take a seat next to me, Chantal, and Sabrina." Brittany smiled calmly while shooting daggers at Marco with her eyes as Star motioned for Marco to put the present in place and went to take seat next to Brittany. As Marco moved he took a look around the bus and saw it was colored a mixture of turquoise and light purple that he sure might be appealing to someone but just made him nauseous. He did see that the perimeter of the bus was packed with comfy chairs and any would be windows were blacked out making him worried. He got car-sick easily and thanked heaven almighty that he had skipped dinner in anticipation for this and placed Star's gift, a rectangular box wrapped up neatly, next to the others. As he turned around he heard a crash and saw someone had "tripped" over Star's tail in what a trained and suspicious eye could see was a malicious attempt at tripping Star. Star however politely offered a hand to the girl that had done that and helped them up saying,

"Do not worry, everyone makes mistakes." As people chuckled slightly at this Marco saw Star wrap her tail around one of her legs to avoid further accidents. Marco hurried to Star's side thinking 'This is just as bad as I had thought it would be.' As he and Star continued to the Heather's waiting point. Brittany was wearing a frilly lilac dress with a turquoise band around the neck and had a little hat of a similar color pined to her hair. Sabrina was wearing a light yellow sun dress with a band of turquoise and indigo around the knee area where the dress ended. Chantal was wearing a thin peach colored dress with only one strap over her left shoulder and a white and peach stripped belt around her waist. Brittany looked up at Marco in a way that made it look like she was looking down on him, Sabrina was trying to be calm but her darting eyes made it clear she was nervous about something, and Chantal was looking at Marco like he was the main course for a meal to the point where she was licking her lips. As he sweated slightly under Chantal's gaze he took position to Star's left as she took a seat with Brittany asking Star a question.

"Why'd you bring your "friend" along with you?" Star chuckled as she motioned to figures that Marco had not seen earlier hiding in the shadows before replying.

"You have man servants, so why should I not have one myself. Right Marco?" Star gestured to Marco as he replied to her.

"Yes mistress." He bowed his head slightly to her as Brittany scoffed slightly, Sabrina oohed silently, and Chantal leaned in slightly fixing Marco with a hungry stare. 'I am uncomfortable.' Marco thought to himself as he glanced around the bus as it started moving.

He saw multiple kids talking with each other that he knew were deemed popular make up the bulk of the party goers by simple face recognition. He did see a few kids from "lower down" that Brittany had probably invited as a reward for some service but he ignored them as well knowing they would be too busy trying to soak up the experience. His eyes did fall on one person he recognized out of the crowd, and as they did so Jackie nodded to him smiling as if impressed with the get up he had. Jackie was wearing her ordinary clothes except she had swapped out her ordinary shirt for a deep purple one; she even still had her shell necklace. Marco cocked her a smile and winked at her making her giggle into her hand giving him butterflies in his stomach that were soon put to rest when he felt another wave of nausea build up from the moving bus. He looked down calming his insides as best he could as he heard Star say something to him that sounded like an order for horderves. Marco turned towards them putting on a "butler" expression, 'I can't believe there even is one' he thought in wry humor, and pulled up the lid revealing nothing; then set it down and pulled it back up to reveal multiple party snacks for the Heathers.

"Dinner, and a show my mistresses." He said softly and held out the platter for them to pick food off of. Star nodded politely to him and took one delicately eating it in a very dainty manner that was definitely not Star's method of eating. Sabrina took one at ate it normally looking awed by the fact that actual food had sprung into mid-air while Chantal ate one while giving Marco a strangely seductive look that made sweat break out on his brow again. Brittany was trying to keep an impressed look off of her face as she turned back to Star eating one of the snacks while asking a question.

"How is this even possible?" Star smiled and fluttered her fan in front of her face lightly while answering.

"Magic is an everyday thing in my kingdom. Even the poorest royal family has one of these at the very least; oh and a butler to work it. Since I am a princess it's only expected that I should have both as a personal add on." Star smiled coolly in a dominate fashion at the Heathers with Marco hoping they were not seeing the nervous twitch at the end of Star's tail.

Sabrina was the first to speak, "So does your kingdom have knights and castles and all those sorts of things?" Brittany looked like she wanted to smack Sabrina with her horderve but Star giggled behind her fan and answered quickly.

"But of course. My family's home is castle Butterfly, a palace in the capitol city of Mewni dedicated to preserving the history and Butterfly line." Star smiled at them as Chantal spoke up finally turning her attention away from Marco much to his relief.

"You claim it is a palace yet you call it a castle, which is it?" The trio smiled most likely thinking that they had tripped Star up with that one question alone. Marco chuckled internally knowing they were about to get schooled.

"Both actually." Star said simply making the trio blink in confusion. "It was built as a magnificent palace but thanks to the magic of our ancestors" Star held up her umbrella wand, "we made a magical wall around it and the capitol preserving it despite the many dangers of our kingdom." She turned back to them smiling answering Sabrina's other question. "We also have many knights expertly trained for many years and equipped with masterfully forged weapons and magically empowered armor to protect the Butterfly line and the kingdom of Mewni." Star waited for them to respond with Marco hoping that, given popular girls tendency to talk about cute boys, they would take the bait.

Chantal asked, "Knights at your command, I bet they would fight over who would get to rescue you to earn you favor." 'She's taking the bait.' Marco thought. Part of Marco's plan was to have Star engage the Heathers on their turf and win in terms of how high class Star can be. Star chuckled getting ready to answer with her fan fluttering to the side.

"But of course they would, it's their duty to do so. Many a knight also hopes to win enough favor to win the heart of the princess just like in the stories of old." Star waited as the trio nodded with even Brittany smiling in awe at this. "But unfortunately for many, they are just too common. A princess must only go for the finest and most high class men as anyone beneath her positon is just not good enough." Marco looked at the trio seeing Chantal and Sabrina looking slightly impressed but, much to his worry, Brittany was looking at Star in suspicion and glancing at him. As Marco watched Brittany's gears roll in her head Sabrina spoke up again,

"So who did your mom marry? As she was once a princess he must have been noble indeed." At this Marco glanced towards Star who was sweating slightly now. He knew fully well that Moon's decision to take a Monster for her love was highly unpopular and what's more that he was most definitely not nobility. But Star chuckled and pulled out a small locket and showed them a picture of her parents with Star making the group gasp. 'This was not part of the plan.' Marco thought in worry as Star pointed them out.

"This is my mom, the queen and caretaker of Mewni." The trio looked at her somewhat impressed by her. "This is my dad, the king and protector of Mewni." As she pointed to Toffee the trio's faces turned a bit sour and confused with Brittany smiling a sly smile looking up at Star.

"So, your mom married a human lizard?" Marco glanced back and forth and saw Star's gaze focus in on Brittany coolly.

"The lizard you are referring too is a great leader of noble blood among another group of beings of Mewni, the Monsters." Brittany seemed to chuckle in triumph and confusion as she tried to figure out what was going on replying to Star.

"There is a race called Monsters? I've heard of Monsters hiding in the corners of fantasy realms but a race known as Monsters?" Star put away the locket looking at them all.

"There have been great wars and conflicts between both races in the past with great tragedy. But one day a leader of the Monsters came with offers of peace and a desire to work with Mewmans to make a better future for all, my father. My grandmother and grandfather were queen and king at the time and saw great potential in him so they decided to work with him to make a better future. As he continued to prove himself by helping people with his intelligence, wisdom, and strength my mom deemed him a noble man and took him as her husband to help bring peace and prosperity to Mewni." The trio of girls were now looking at Star impressed with even some envy in their eyes. As they did so a chimer went off somewhere and Brittany stood up calling to everyone.

"Alright everyone, its karaoke time." There were sounds of cheers amongst the party goers with Brittany clapping her hands causing a big surround sound system to spring out of one of the walls. "First off, how about we let our local princess Star Butterfly sing?" People began cheering a bit loudly making Star's tail twitch nervously to Marco's worry. 'I hope she can pull this off.' He knew they had contingency plans for stuff like this but was worried none the less.

Star stepped up to the stage and took a microphone handed to her and Star seemed to hesitate for a moment as music started playing. She then reached up to her headband and seemed to scratch lightly underneath it like she was righting some hair and began singing in a foreign language. Marco didn't even have time to register that Star had turned off her translator before her beautiful voice began sweeping people away in a tide of song. Marco stood there awe struck at how well Star was pulling this off with beautiful images playing in his mind of people dancing in misty meadows in deep wood clearings at dawn. He was so awestruck that he didn't even notice the song end and Star step down from the stand until he heard a massive round of applause from everyone snapping him out of his imagination. As Star finished she reached up to fix her hair again and walked down to where Marco was standing and stood next to him trying to look cool and refined but only mostly succeeding, which was more than Marco had hoped for. Brittany got the mike back looking a bit awe struck, frustrated, and suspicious at the same time and began talking again.

"Well that was impressive; nothing less from a genuine princess." Everyone chuckled at that in a good natured fashion making Brittany even more frustrated somehow. "Well how about we let someone else take the stand, like you." She handed the mike to a random stranger and almost pushed him out onto the stage. With everyone distracted she gathered up Chantal and Sabrina and hurried to someplace out of Marco's sight.

Marco spoke breathlessly, "That was amazing, the song was amazing, you were amazing." He stared at her with Star looking down rubbing her tail slightly snapping Marco out of his awe and back fully to the present. "Well, you handled that pretty well. And now that the opening shots have been fired it's time to get ready for round two; and a good thing as Brittany seems to be getting suspicious." Star smiled getting back on track but Marco had a question for her. "Say, is all the stuff you said about your parents true?" Star chuckled softly before answering Marco.

"Most of it is not, my grandmother actually wanted to kill Toffee for the longest period of time. He did come from a royal family though, but it has been long since exterminated with Toffee being the only member after his cousin Rasticore was killed in my mom's civil war." Star hung her head slightly as Marco rubbed her back making her sigh in contentment before straightening. "Go have some fun Marco, if I need you I'll ring this." Star held up a small crystal bell making Marco's face go deadpan.

"You are taking this butler thing too far aren't you mistress." Star giggled with Marco realizing what he just said in frustration before turning around and heading off towards Jackie. 'Perhaps some nice quality time could help my standing with her.' Marco thought eagerly.

* * *

"It's not working; she's keeping her cool throughout the whole thing!" Sabrina chewed her nails nervously while her eyes darted back and forth until Brittany smacked her upside the head and began berating her.

"Stop that, do you want to ruin your manicure?" She then turned to Chantal. "And stop undressing Marco with your eyes; do you want people to think you're a slut who goes after loser boys?" Chantal looked at Brittany evenly as she answered.

"He's actually surprisingly cute considering where he comes from. Especially since he knows how to follow orders and take direction." She licked her lips thinking about him. "He used to take ballet, do you think I could get him into his ballet outfit and dominate…" Brittany cut her off quickly.

"Stop listening to your hormones and focus." Chantal actually did look somewhat ashamed by this as Brittany continued. "Star seems to be able to handle these kinds of positions well so we will have to change tactics. Instead of embarrassing her and consoling her we will instead focus on elevating her immediately and show her the benefits of joining us while hinting at what could happen if she doesn't join us." The other two nodded to Brittany as she smoothed her wig back. "Now let's get back, I have a solo to sing."

* * *

"Hey Jackie."

"Oh, hey Marco. How'd you get in the party?" Jackie smiled as she saw a guy she finally got along with approach her.

"Well I'm here under guise as Star's butler for better or for worse." Jackie giggled at that with Marco sighing in frustration. "I think Star may be taking it too far as well." Jackie patted the couch next to her which Marco promptly sat down on and whispered closely to Jackie. "Just between you and me, my friends are coming to make a mess of this party to embarrass Brittany to no end." Jackie chuckled again sidling in close to him, making Marco blush slightly.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. As a person who has gotten invited multiple times I can safely say anything would be an improvement over what normally happens." Jackie sighed making Marco blink in concern as Jackie continued. "I actually don't like being one of the popular kids Marco, it can be so constraining and limiting despite how loosely I'm connected with the other groups." Marco looked at Jackie concerned putting his arm around her shoulder unconsciously.

"Well that's why I don't bother with trying to fit in." Jackie smiled up at him making his heart skip a beat as she slid in even closer. "umm so uh what normally happens?" Jackie giggled and slid right next to him moving his arm down around to her waist.

"Well usually once we get going there's karaoke which Brittany is horrible at, present opening which is demeaning to everyone as Brittany throws aside her gifts, cake cutting which always has someone jump out of it so we have no cake, and boys tend to hit on me non-stop just because I'm a "catch" as they would put it." She sighed leaning into Marco making him turn a deeper crimson color then normal. "It wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that they are mostly immature idiots who don't take no for an answer. Kind of the reason why I'm "throwing" myself at you now." She smiled up at Marco as realized the eyes of no less than six guys were on him filled with envy and anger. "So, why did you start practicing karate?" Jackie looked up at him with Marco calming himself. He thought 'Step 22, make yourself vulnerable to her.' He turned to her smiling answered the truth.

"Because I wanted to be a ninja turtle." Jackie giggled into one of her hands as she put another one around his waist moving in closer to him. "No really, I wanted to be a ninja turtle and went through training to become capable of ninja actions. I started out with ballet when I was younger, yes those rumors are true, in order to gain flexibility and muscular strength to begin training." Jackie seemed completely absorbed in Marco's words as he continued. "I then took up free running for a short while to get used to heights and traversing obstacles quickly and I still do it independently to keep up my abilities. I then took karate to hone my fighting skills so I could actually do combat well and plus karate is just cool. After that I plan on taking up fencing and usage of other weapons to learn further combat skills, hopefully with those cool ninja stars known as shuriken." He looked at Jackie and was relieved to see she was drinking in every word he had to say eagerly.

"So, do you still want to be a ninja turtle?" Marco chuckled at Jackie's question before answering.

"Not really. I was hoping for genetic mutation but that was not likely going to happen, so I decided to just become a regular ninja. When I learned that ninjas did not really function like the turtles did I decided to just continue as I wanted to become a cool fighter like Mackie Hand." Jackie oohd slightly at this boosting Marco's confidence. "It would be nice to have those skills you know." He leaned in close to Jackie whispering in her ear. "Just between you and me, I still practice ballet independanty because I just enjoy it so much." He pulled back to see Jackie beaming up at him making him blush slightly.

"Cool man. Did you know I took up skateboarding because I wanted to be a mermaid?" Marco blinked in shock at this but was instantly invested in the conversation. "I used to live by the ocean and still take trips down there all the time as I like it and to practice surfing. Unfortunately I couldn't stay down there all the time to practice surfing so I practiced skateboarding to compensate for that and just grew to love it. I also tried learning all I could about the ocean and even learned how to sing really well so I could be just like Ariel." Marco smiled at that remembering the few times he had heard Jackie sing. "But like your genetic mutation I came to realize that a magical transformation was unlikely so I just continued with everything because I liked it so much and it helps to have skills like that." She then seemed to get an idea and leaned in close to Marco's face making his blush return and deepen. "Say, could you get Star to turn me into a mermaid and you into a ninja turtle for a short time?" Marco glanced over to Star who was enjoying the party; at least it appeared that way.

"Well sure, if Star would be up to it." Jackie hugged him close squeezing slightly.

"Thanks, you are an awesome boyfriend." Everything went silent and blank for Marco as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened and what Jackie had said.

"Wai… you… and… couple?!" Marco babbled a little as Jackie pulled back looking at him coyly.

"Oh come on Marco, I've seen the way you look at me and the methods you have been using to talk to me for the last few years." Marco blushed a bright crimson as he realized Jackie had known the whole time. "I kind of figured something was up when you puked in my lap in 3rd grade trying to impress me." Marco tried hiding his face at that memory but Jackie pulled his face back up to stare at him. "I like you because you're genuine and caring, any girl would want a boy like you if they wanted a genuine relationship. So let's just cut to the chase and become a couple because you are just a cool guy I want to be with." Jackie then leaned in and lightly kissed him on the lips making Marco freeze for a second before going limp as a warm bubbly feeling encased him. 'It's happened, it's finally happened!' Marco thought to himself giddily. As they pulled back from each other Marco saw Jackie was blushing lightly as well and looked a little bashful. "I-is it hot in here, or is that just me." Marco smiled before replying.

"No I'm feeling it too; perhaps we should go to the roof." The moment was then shattered by horrible singing that made them both put their hands over their ears to block it out. Looking up they saw Brittany was singing now, very horribly indeed. Marco leaned in and shouted "Let's get to the roof before my ears start bleeding." Jackie nodded and followed him out of the bus up a set of stairs that would take them to the roof.

 **Well... this going to be a long episode. Strap yourselves in people this may be the first four part episode you read. And for that matter, I have definitely gone to the point where I have deviated from canon to the point of no return whether I wanted to or not.**


	15. Brittany's Party Pt 3

**SN: You do realize you have just confused everyone by saying Starco would be a thing and put MArco and Jackie together right?**

 **WH: I have a plan here man, just trust me.**

 **SN: Why?**

 **WH: I get my readers having doubts but you, you are in my head. Have some faith in me already and do your narrating job.**

 **SN: I was treated with so much more respect on Spongebob.**

 **WH: Then why did you leave it in "Can you Spare a Dime?" because you got bored?**

 **SN: ...**

 **WH: ...**

 **SN: Let us never have this conversation again.**

 **WH: You always say that when I bring that up. Anyways, back to the show folks. (and I do have a plan for the shipping thing)**

Star conjured up a pair of earmuffs that she placed atop her head to block out Brittany's horrible singing as she watched everyone devolve into piles of whining children. She looked up seeing that Brittany was oblivious to all of this including that fact that Chantal and Sabrina had put in ear plugs themselves. The trio locked eyes with each other and nodded a silent agreement to let this slide, united by the horrible sound of this anti-siren. Everyone endured this as best they could for the agonizing 4 minutes they had too until Brittany finished… or would if the speakers didn't blow out catapulting Brittany across the room into her pile of birthday presents. As everyone turned to look at Brittany in shock Star glanced over to the left of the speakers and subtly winked to Janna who was hiding in the shadows who winked back knowingly.

Star hid her earmuffs and walked over to Brittany and offered a hand to her saying, "Oh dear that was a bit too much excitement in the wrong way. Are you ok?" Brittany growled and only just caught herself from smacking Star and instead accepted her hand in friendship allowing herself to be helped up.

"Thank you Star Butterfly." Brittany tried to sound on top of the situation but only sounded slightly whiny to Star's ears. "Jarvis, find out why that happened!" Brittany snapped at the men to the sidelines and three guys came out to inspect the blown speakers. Giving a grunt of annoyance and continued speaking, "Well, now that this is done, who wants to join me in opening presents?" Everyone hid groans and joined Brittany at the present table where she was thrown.

Star glanced to the sides of the crowd to see Janna was out of sight now and went to sit down with Chantal and Sabrina as Brittany started going through the gifts to pick which one she would open first. After a light search, that Star thought was just her putting up the appearance of being picky, Brittany picked out Star's gift. As she opened it Star calmed herself internally as best she could trying to reassure herself that she didn't need Brittany to like it, just be impressed by it. Brittany finished opening it to reveal a fantastically beautiful dress making everyone gasp in awe at it. It was a light dress made of a thin material that seemed to ripple and flow under the light like it was made of water. It was designed to go down to the wearers ankles with a slit up the side to the knees for freedom of movement with two surprisingly frilly shoulder straps for support with no sleeves. It shimmered a brilliant golden glow with red and blue highlights throughout it making it look like some sort of living liquid flame. As everyone, including Brittany, stared at it in awe it made Star feel a little better so she preemptively answered a question she knew Brittany would have.

"This was not made by anyone on earth but me with magic finer than any sowing machine could. The dress is made out of silk with gold fibers weaved into it for that extra flare. Not threads the color of gold, but actual golden threads." Everyone stared at Star open mouthed as Brittany nearly dropped it in shock at what Star just spieled. Brittany turned towards Star with one question,

"Why!?" Star chuckled and answered her.

"Because I wanted to impress you of course; you did deem it necessary to invite me to your birthday right?" Everyone stared at Star in shock with Star feeling better about herself until she saw Janna in the shadows motioning violently at the windows. 'This is either very good or very bad.' Star thought to herself as sweat broke out on her forehead.

* * *

"Captain, no incoming transmissions from our spy; suggested course of action is to move in close and get a visual." Oskar sighed heavily as Ferguson went on a rant.

"Man, she could just be hiding from Brittany by not talking, give Janna a break." Oskar strummed his keytar as Floyd gave out a slight screech from below.

Currently Oskar, Ferguson, and Alfonzo were atop Floyd flying at a distance following the party bus ready to swoop down should things get out of hand. Though Floyd was gigantic he was also surprisingly stealthy as his wings seemed to be like that of an owl's in that they made little noise when he flapped just to stay in the air. Ferguson was keeping an eye on the bus while Oskar drove, or would be if he didn't stop every five minutes to act like he was in a movie. Oskar did admit it was pretty surreal to be helping a lizard princess while riding on the back of a bird of prey/paradise the size of a bus, but this was real life and you could not screw around when someone as sensitive as Star was involved.

Alfonzo turned to the two and spoke up, "Hey guys, you might want to see this." The group peaked over Floyd's shoulder and saw Marco and Janna come out onto the roof of the bus and seemed to be laughing about something. "I think Marco's finally putting the move on…" Marco leaned over and kissed Jackie's cheek or something in the general area as they were too far away to tell what he was kissing exactly. "… or he did put the move on her and succeeded at long last." The trio gave a silent cheer for him with Oskar speaking.

"I was wondering when he would make his move; honestly I think Jackie knew about this the whole time." Alfonzo and Ferguson nodded silent agreement to his statement. Marco had not been the most subtle at points for the last year or so. As they were agreeing Floyd screeched at something down below and the group looked over the sides to see shadowy figures in medieval armor and stereotypical barbarian get up seemingly setting up an ambush at a nearby bridge.

"Ummmm…" Alfonzo turned to the other two who looked at each other in concern. Ferguson, after spending a second taking this all in, immediately pulled out a radio and called in.

"Sneak, this is the three caballeros calling in; we got a major problem."

* * *

Everyone on the bus looked up as a scuffle broke out with Janna slipping out of the grasps of Brittany's three, 'Butler's I guess, I don't know what to call them honestly.' Star thought in confusion. As Janna did so she called out to Star,

"Plan is up Star, we got company." Everyone immediately looked at Star who began rubbing her tail and sweating under their stares. Brittany looked at Star as if her suspicions were confirmed before speaking,

"Plan, what pl…" But before she finished windows began shattering around everyone as Forest Barbarians tumbled into the bus. Everyone gave out screams of shock as the Barbarians brandished their weapons turning their eyes to Star. As they did so they seemed to be waiting for someone but when a muffled thump on the side of the van happened they all looked up in concern with Dumnorix stepping forward to reach out of one of the windows and pull Mavis in, a bit worse for wear. As Mavis was composing herself another barbarian came through the same window and managed to dodge Mavis but landed face first in the birthday cake that was about the same size of a Gorilla. As everyone looked at Mavis she shrugged and said,

"It's a lot harder to leap onto a moving object then you might think people, cut us some slack." She then turned to Star smiling haughtily. "Now then Star Butterfly, you should know better than to let your guard down to party while we are at large. Have you forgotten us already?" Star looked at the group and blinked in slight confusion.

"Forget? I don't even recognize some of you." The Barbarians gave Star a hurt look as they glanced at each other with Mavis speaking.

"What? You're saying you don't recognize Michael." She pointed to a Barbarian with a brown beard that stretched down to his feet who looked saddened. "He spotted you at Quest Buy. Or how about the Danter triplets who keep on overwhelming the guardian Marco." She pointed to three very short barbarians standing on each other's shoulders each holding a weapon looking confused. "Or how about Hildegra, you don't remember her?" She points to a very stout woman with thick blond hair and somewhat bad teeth wearing a Viking hat with horns who spoke with an opera singer's voice.

"Well to be fair, I wasn't formally introduced. Hildegra at service to the true queen of Mewni and beloved of my precious Hiccup." She grabbed onto a tall and scrawny barbarian that Star recognized from somewhere but wasn't sure where as people chuckled at that.

Brittany spoke up, "Wait, Star isn't a real princess?" The kids turned to Star as Mavis smiled again.

"Of course she is not; her mother forfeited the throne at a young age to run off with a Monster instead of a proper husband. Of course she still believed it belonged to her so she started a rebellion to claim the throne and kill anyone in her way damaging the kingdom mightily. I am here to claim the wand of the Butterfly's and cast down this false queen and her disgusting lizard husband with this half-blooded freak of a child and to put Mewni on the proper path." Mavis snapped her fingers and Barbarians immediately grabbed a random party goer and held weapons to their throats. "Now hand over the wand or this method of transportation will get a much needed paint coat of red." Everyone stood stock still with baited breath for several seconds waiting for Star to act when all of a sudden a crash came from the front of the bus. Everyone turned to see Janna standing there smiling slightly with a pile of crystal shards that appeared to have been a part of something that must have been expensive.

"What, if you guys are gonna smash windows why can't I smash stuff?" Everyone blinked in confusion as Star's battle instincts kicked in with her eyes going cat-pupil yellow.

"Rubber Sparkle Bounce House!" Star waved here wand and hit the Bus causing the whole thing to become bouncy on the inside. As people began bouncing around the barbarians lost their grip on the kids and tried getting their footing with limited success. Strangely enough all the kids seemed ready for this and began bouncing around with some even having fun with it. One kid slipped out of one barbarians arms jumping up and landed right on his back forcing the barbarian to flop around out of control. Another slipped down beneath the barbarians legs making him fall face first to the ground and bounced on his face along a straight line with muttered curses. A third kid made the barbarian bounce with him up and down until they were separate and the kid got a good kick on his crotch making the barbarian whine in pain as he bounced around. The other escaped in similar methods with Star pin-balling through the confusion and up the stairs to the roof with Janna bouncing around just having fun now.

"Grrrrrrrrr, GET THE MUD-BLOOD BITCH!" Mavis screamed out with the barbarians leaping after Star as best the y could with Brittany giving a cocky smile. Sabrina of course gave Brittany a confused look and asked,

"Why are you so happy about this? Your party is ruined." Brittany turned to Sabrina still smiling.

"Of course it is, but it's all Star's fault. She planned something out to mess with me but now she as fault, we can blame her, and she will lose her status quickly since she is not a real princess. We don't need her to join the Heather's now; we just need to destroy her social life if she survives tonight. These interlopers shot her in the foot for us, we won!" Brittany pumped her fist before realizing what she said. "I do hope no one dies though, that is always bad." Sabrina nodded as they both noticed Chantal pulling along a short but very fit barbarian with a gloriously long and flowing platinum blond beard and hair combo who was tied up tightly.

"Well well well. Looks like mama's having pork chops for supper." Chantal pulled the surprisingly eager barbarian into a side room and put out a sign that said _Do Not Disturb_. Sabrina and Brittany looked at each other in concern and backed away from the side room with Sabrina commenting,

"At least she's not going after Marco anymore."

* * *

"Does this happen to you often?" Jackie spoke uneasily as she and Marco were surrounded by some forest Barbarians led by Selene.

"Unfortunately yes, what do you want now?" Marco spoke to Jackie and then addressed their opponents with the group chuckling at him.

Selene answered quickly, "What we have always wanted of course; to take Star's wand and to get rid of you and her. Seriously you didn't figure that out by now?" The barbarians laughed even harder as Marco growled in frustration before he asked a question.

"But why now, this isn't the most opportune time to attack as you lost around 5 guys just trying to get on the bus." The group did stop laughing as they realized what Marco had said was true but Selene was quick to retort.

"Star's in a vulnerable position here cut off from the rest of the world and we have plenty of hostages to sway her "kindly nature" into surrendering. Like the one right next to you." Selene pointed at Jackie which made Marco go full battle mode and put himself between her and them.

"Don't you dare touch my girlfriend you bitch!" Selene and the barbarians blinked in shock at Marco's sudden ferocity and gave him looks of respect as they began commenting on it.

"Marco's got a girl; I'm surprised he didn't have one before."

"How do you know he didn't have her before tonight?"

"The protective instinct is strong with him." Marco blinked at the comments and salutes of respect as Selene finally commented on it.

"You know… I can see why she went for you. You're not ugly and your sense of devotion is admirable, most women would acknowledge that." Some of the barbarians looked at Selene in shock for some reason as she waved them off. "I didn't say I found him attractive, I just said I could see why others would find him attractive." As Marco looked on in confusion Star leapt out from the stairwell to the roof behind Marco and yelled out loudly.

"MARCO, we have barbarians att…" She then noticed the ones on the roof and stopped, "oh wait you probably know that now. BATTLE FORMATION!" Star and Marco got into fighting stances together as the group on the roof faced them off with Mavis scrambling out from the stair well with more barbarians behind her.

"Dammit, she got out here too quick and the guardian is with her. No matter, CUT THEM DOWN!" Mavis drew her sword and charged forward with the barbarians closing in on both sides.

Marco leapt forward sliding under the legs of one and forcing him to fall flat on his face before spinning his leg around tripping down one but a second just leaping over the leg chuckling. Unfortunately for him he was hit with a blast of orange light magic that made him spin like a top and, while he didn't knock anyone else down, he did scatter the group giving Marco and Star breathing room. Star then held out her wand yelling, "Crystal cupcake shower!" shooting a line of crystals shaped like cupcakes that mowed down three of the barbarians. As they laid in a bruised mess Marco stepped over them and engaged two at once with a flurry of blows that left them both unconscious before blocking the blow of another one. As Marco engaged him Star Shoot a wave of magical snakes at a knot of them with two going down tied up but Selene cut down the snakes in her way saving two others as well. The trio went after Star but one of them was knocked down by a barbarian Marco threw at them and then leapt in striking at Selene quickly. After a triple combo that would have snapped a sapling apart Marco fell back holding his hands in pain as Selene smirked at him and pulled aside clothes to reveal brand new chain mail armor.

"We couldn't get them for the whole lot thanks to the mess you made at Quest Buy but we got some to keep our best safe from simple punches." Selene smirked and tried cutting Marco who leapt back in fear that the fight may have just turned against him.

As Marco fought for his life Star smacked down the third one with her wand and noticed Dumnorix, Mavis, and the remaining barbarians had formed a shield wall and were advancing on Star. "Eviscerating sparkle blast" Star yelled shooting magic at them but the shield wall blocked it like a tank would deflect buck-shot. "Ummm, Dragons Breath" Star shot another spell with a wave of magical fire rolling over the group also doing nothing noticeable. "Shattered Heart Storm" Star shot another spell in a panic with metallic heart shaped items flying at the group but doing nothing more than getting stuck in the shields. Scared now, Star held up her wand ready to fire again when she heard a screech from above making her and everyone look up to see Floyd cruising over head with Ferguson yelling from its back.

"You mess with one of us you mess with the whole flock. BOMBS AWAY!" Ferguson began flinging off the birds back what looked like water balloons but Star knew definitely did not have water in them.

The barbarians looked up in confusion as the balloons fell on them getting a face full of stink bombs of the Gods alone knew what horrible concoction Janna and Ferguson had put in them. They had prepared them should the party go so badly that they needed a way to quickly escape from the bus onto Floyd's back. Star smiled as the barbarians broke up coughing and wheezing heavily with one of them outright vomiting over the side of the bus with Jackie commenting "Party animal." Star waved as the trio on the bird flew by only realizing what she had done by letting her guard down when a blade swung at her. Star, reacting out of instinct, made a glowing pink sword emerge from her wand to bloke Mavis's blade with a loud *CHINK* of blade against blade. Star had not been fully trained with swords, she preferred poll axes, but she took a defensive stance as Mavis did an overhead feint and then swung in from the left hard. Star deflected the blow and did an up hand swing that might have cut Mavis in half were it not for Mavis's new chain mail armor.

"*Cocky laughter*Pathetic. A true Butterfly can make a blade like that cut through magically enhanced steel like it was paper." Mavis struck again with Star not sure what to do but doing enough to stay alive.

Dumnorix looked up as the bird swooped around ready to make another pass and whistled for Selene who was at a stalemate with Marco. Selene did a triple back flip out of the fight with Marco leaving him blinking in confusion as she landed next to Dumnorix. With eyes burning from the stink he motioned to the bird with Selene nodding knowing exactly what he was going to do. He picked Selene up who straightened herself out like a spear and, after taking aim, threw her at the bird with Marco staring at them open mouthed in shock. Selene flew through the air with Floyd not even having enough time to realize there was a girl flying at him before she struck. She landed on his back and punched Alfonzo in the face hoping to knock him off but her landing caused Floyd to careen slightly from the newly added weight. Instead, Alfonzo landed on the remaining stink bombs making them all go off at once on Floyd's back affecting everyone with a cloud of noxious fumes. Dumnorix's confident smile fell as he realized that now Floyd was now careening towards the bus's rear with not much in the way to block it and started shouting desperately.

"Everyone up at em, we got an incoming bogy. Mavis, get down!" Dumnorix leapt to the ground to avoid the worst of the impact with Marco following suit. Mavis and Star both looked up at the shouting and saw Floyd about to crash into the rear with only enough time to react saying,

"Oh shit." As they said that Floyd rammed the rear of the bus making it spin out of control and throwing everyone forward. As that happened Ferguson was thrown over Floyd's head and rammed straight into Star and Mavis sending the tangle of people down the bus stairs. They fell down running over the steps relentlessly until the hit the ground and bounced to the front of the bus smacking the driver's seat so hard it collapsed under their weight and knocked the driver unconscious.

As the trio tried to get their bearings Ferguson sat up as best he could realizing he was holding the now detached steering wheel of the bus. As he stared at it in horror he also saw the gas had been floored by the now unconscious bus driver and they were picking up speed. Afraid of what he was going to find, he slowly looked out the front window and saw they had swerved away from the freeway they were on and were now running into a construction zone with workers running away from them. Up ahead was a sharp drop off with a bulldozer pushed up near the edge of it for some reason, the blade of it pointed in their direction like the end of the world.

Ferguson tried speaking fast, "*frightened squawk* Captain, captain," He at random pulled up the first thing he could get his hands on, Star's tail, and spoke into it like it was radio transmitter. " ICEBERG AHEAD!"

Everyone on the bus began screaming at what was about to happen and grabbed onto something random even if it was someone else; like Marco and Dumnorix grabbing onto each other in fear. As the bus moved to their doom Star acted fast shoving the driver's leg off the gas and put her own on the brakes hoping to slow down as much as possible. As luck would have it, the bus skipped over something and didn't directly hit the bulldozer but skidded slightly pushing the bulldozer's blade end up. The bulldozer was pushed back a ways nearly dropping off the end but stopping just short of doing so. As everything stopped people let out held breaths and gave sighs of relief until the heard the unmistakable sound of concrete cracking right below them. It turned out the drop off was not able to support the weight of both the bus and the bulldozer as the pillions were not completed yet making the end crack off enough for both to plummet down off the edge. As the 30 foot drop was revealed to them in glory someone calmly said, "oh no" and then everyone began screaming.

Star flashed her wand at the bus pulling off another bounce house spell this time on the bottom and front of the bus making it bounce off the bulldozer when it hit the ground. The bus continued to move forward down a slight slop and into an ad-hoc skateboard park making the skaters scatter in multiple directions. The bus bounced through the skate park hitting a half-pike and instead of crashing into it skidded and bounced over it flying through the air in front of the moon like in ET. As it approached earth again Marco screamed in panic as they flew towards some sort of cinderblock building with a hotdog stand in front of it. The guy tending to it immediately screamed and ducked to the side yelling "MY HOTDOGS!" as the bus crashed through it and into the building causing the whole thing to collapse on them.

As the dust cleared from the action barbarians and kids began emerging from the bus and building ruins still alive but battered, bruised, and in a daze. The barbarians and kids alike filed out and collapsed in piles across the area in front of the ruins catching their breaths and wonderign how they were able to survive a bus crash. As everyone caught their breaths Selene leaped out of the ruins screaming, "Wa whooo. Yeah, who's up for round two?" Everyone looked at her with dazed deadpan expressions making Selene calm down slightly. "Ok then; I'm guessing we lost this day." She took out their dimensional scissors and cut a portal back home with the barbarians shambling their way out.

Mavis turned back for a second and said in an exhausted manner "We'll get you yet Star-oh who cares right now." Then stepped through closing the portal behind her.

Star got up from the wreckage shaking herself off as best as possible and started forward to find Marco so they could get home but heard a shriek from behind her.

"Star Butterfly, look what you've done now!"

'Just ignore Brittany, just ignore Brittany.' Star thought on the edge of breaking down looking desperately for Marco.


	16. Brittany's Party Pt 4

**For you ravangel, with pleasure.**

Marco had finally lost control of his gut and puked up what little was in there despite preparations for the night before Jackie had found him making sure he was alright. Now Jackie and Marco were sitting back to back panting heavily with some scrapes and bruises but otherwise were fine. As they calmed down Jackie turned to Marco and spoke quietly,

"I haven't had a wipe out like that in years man." Marco turned to her and responded.

"You live one interesting life if this has happened to you before." They both chuckled until they heard Brittany screaming at Star.

"Star Butterfly, look what you've done now!" Marco and Jackie looked up as best they could to see Brittany yelling at Star who looked like she just wanted to leave. "You ruined my birthday party even if it wasn't the way you intended to in the first place. You just cost my daddy a fortunate and nearly got us all killed with your shenanigans." Star appeared to be trying to ignore Brittany while looking for someone but the words were obviously getting to her. "Are you even going to face me you false princess. Your bitch of a mom stole your family's throne and left you to destroy everything in your path." Marco tried to stand up but nearly collapsed again due to a head rush bringing on a wave of nausea and had to take a knee as Brittany tore Star to shreds. "And yet everyone still loves you. The kids at school love you, your friends love you, I bet even the people of your kingdom love you despite what your mom did to them." At this line Star stopped for some reason and Marco saw the look on her face. 'No, no no no no!' Marco thought in fear as he tried to get up but was knocked over by another kid trying to get up and fell flat on his face. Helplessly he looked up as Star's eyes turned yellow cat-pupil as she turned on Brittany.

"Love?" Everyone fell eerily silent at that quite word. "Love? Love!? LOVE!?" Star's voice got higher as she took a step closer to Brittany making her shy away. "YOU THINK MY SUBJECTS LOVE ME!?" Star then pulled out her tail pointing to it. "Do you see this tail?!" She began pointing at other parts of her body. "See this skin!? See these teeth?! See these eyes!? See these claws!?" At that Star shredded the skin over her right arm letting blood ooze out making everyone step back in horror; a few kids even vomited at the sight. "Boys I confessed to threw me into mud puddles, a group of friends I tried to get into muzzled me, old people throw garbage at me, there have been THREE assassination attempts on me," Star sniffed as tears began to fall down her face. "I was nearly lynched when I was five years old. FIVE YEARS OLD! My subjects don't love me, they hate me because of how I was born! I'M A HALF BLOODED FREAK!" Star collapsed to her knees sobbing now as Marco quickly pulled out the mirror and called Toffee who picked up on the second ring.

"Marco? How bad is it?" Marco sighed as he replied.

"She's had another incident, get here NOW." Everyone looked at Marco as he spoke realizing this had happened before at some time.

"Get Star home, we'll be there within the hour." Marco nodded and hung up. As he stood up Star said something through the sobs that made him freeze in horror.

"I tried taking my own life to save everyone the trouble, *sniff* but every time I cut myself I just kept on healing." Marco looked up to see the wound on Star's arm close up as if it had never been there. "I never asked to be born this way; why can't they just leave me alone?" With that Marco was off like a gunshot and got to Star's side holding her close as she began sobbing into his shoulder.

Marco whispered to Star "Shh shh Star, I'm here for you. Just listen to the sound of my voice." Star sobbed as she spoke again.

"Why can't they just leave me alone?" Star then took her tail and began sucking on it like it was a binky and curled into Marco's arms as he held her close. Janna, Oskar, Alfonzo, Ferguson, and Jackie were all by Star's side in a matter of seconds trying everything to comfort her with Jackie even holding a conch shell to one of Star's ears. As they did this another shout rang out,

"Are you happy now?" People looked up to see Sabrina, with no more nervous anxiety about her, yelling at Brittany. "You wanted Star to crack wide open from the very start to have a breakdown and finally succeeded. Are you happy now?" Brittany, looking both nervous and annoyed turned on Sabrina.

"What? You dare to just throw accusations like…" Sabrina cut her off though.

"NO! I'm done being your puppet!" Sabrina took off a green scrunchie from around her wrist and threw it to the ground stepping on it. "I don't care what you do to me now, the only regret I have is following you in the first place you irredeemable BITCH!" Everyone blinked in shock at what had happened and found themselves looking back towards Star only to recoil at what they saw.

Jackie never did anger, she never felt anger in the slightest, anger wasn't her thing; but the look of fury she was directing at Brittany would have been enough to melt steel into useless molten slag. "Not. Cool." Those two simple words had such disgust and contempt about them that Brittany took two more steps back looking around at everyone finding no friends. Everyone began looking at her with cold stares of judgement that bore into her like a drill would making her squirm on the inside as she tried to figure out what to do next. Finally after a full minute of this the fight just seemed to go out of her as she slumped her shoulders and, as f coming to a great realization, said,

"You're… right." And just turned and began walking away in a daze as Marco lifted Star up in his arms.

"Come on Star, let's go home." Marco turned and carried Star following Oskar to Floyd who extended his wing for Marco to get on. When Marco, Star, and Oskar were on Floyd took the air and carried them home with everyone watching. As the bird flew out of sight people began dispersing for the weekend murmuring to each other about what was going to happen now. Janna, Jackie, Ferguson, and Alfonzo headed off together silently knowing Star would need them come Monday if nothing else then for moral support.

* * *

Marco sat on the couch combing Star's hair with that strangely familiar comb he found in Star's stuff as she sipped hot coco with all sorts of good toppings on it while wrapped up in a wool blanket. Moon was currently holding another one with three empty mugs on the table showing she had gone through quite a few earlier while Toffee was holding Star in his lap while rocking her back and forth. Angie and Raphael were currently making another mug of coco with all the fixings as Star's parents had instructed earlier as this stuff was comfort medicine for Star in the case of a breakdown. As they sat there Star began to speak again,

"I'm sorry for not keeping it toge…" Moon cut her off quickly.

"There is nothing to be sorry for dear; you did the best you could." Star looked like she didn't believe it as Toffee spoke up.

"You did so much better than most people would in your circumstances given what Marco told us." He then turned to turn to Marco smiling. "Thank you so much for taking care of our precious MonStar Marco, you are knight worthy from this alone." Marco smiled blushing slightly.

"I did this because Star needs me; she's like a little sister I need to protect." Star sobbed quietly at this with another round of comforting being given. Marco then turned back to Star, "You don't need to worry about anything now; just let yourself fall apart tonight. We can put you back together tomorrow." Star looked to Marco blinking her eyes with tears falling from them for a second before she did just that. Marco felt the waves of sadness flowing off of Star as she just let go and let herself fall apart sobbing into her father's suit. Angie and Raphael pulled in close now and all five of them got Star in the center of a big group hug that seemed to hug the sadness out of her. As they parted after a few minutes Star sat up and moved towards Moon hugging onto her and finishing her current mug setting it on the table shakily.

She looked up at Moon and spoke, "Mommy, can you tell me the story of how you and daddy met each other again?" Moon smiled giving Star the next mug and held her on her lap.

"Certainly my dearest little MonStar. It all started when I almost burned down the castle gardens with a rainbow spell…" As Moon told Star the story Marco got up to make Star nachos with Toffee following him to thank him again.

"Again thank you so much; you just go beyond the call of duty for Star. Say where did you get that comb?" Marco looked down at the comb and smiled.

"It was in Star's stuff but it looks familiar for some reason. I have no idea why but it seems to calm Star down whenever I use it to comb her hair." Marco smiled for a moment before looking up at Toffee with a serious question. "What does 'mudblood' mean?" Toffee sighed as his face fell looking out the kitchen window just staring for a few minutes as Marco made nachos. As Marco was almost finished Toffee turned back to him and finally answered,

"Mudblood, it means dirty blood and is an insult used by Monsters and Mewmans alike on half-children like Star. Some Monsters view half children as weak and cowardly while some Mewmans view them as savage and ugly." Toffee looked down and sighed. "I wish we could have done more to protect Star but even a king and queen are limited in power; and I can only imagine what is happening to any other half-children in the kingdom." Marco shuddered at the thought as Toffee looked up shaking the thought off. "But that should not be our thought for the evening; come Marco, let's give Star these 'nachos' of yours that she has gone on so much about. Are the chips made of corn by any chance?" Marco smiled as he carried them out.

"If you want them to be authentic, you have to make them with corn." Toffee smiled licking his lips at the thought but held himself back as these were for Star. 'I have no idea what can of worms I just opened.' Marco thought as he sat down next to an overjoyed Star who stuffed her face as he resumed combing with everyone chuckling.

* * *

Janna and Jackie were walking alone now as Ferguson and Alfonzo had split off to go home and they both seemed spent after what had just happened. Janna sighed and tried to think of something good that happened tonight and smiled when she thought of one. Turning to Jackie she asked,

"So you and Marco are finally a thing huh? I was wondering when that would happen." Jackie smiled and replied chuckling slightly.

"Yeah. I kind of noticed he was really into me a bit over a year ago and I think he realized I was a girl in the good way all the way back in third grade. I decided to make my move on him when he started getting all vulnerable at the party because he seemed to be the best guy in high school. He's funny, kind, devoted, and extremely caring; I mean look at how he took care of Star back there. I'm surprised no other girl snatched him up yet." Janna noticed Jackie twitch slightly at this for some reason but put it to the back of her mind. After walking a few seconds more Janna spoke again.

"Believe it or not I once had a crush on Marco for the exact same reasons." Jackie raised her eyebrow at this as Janna continued. "But when I was put under his "care" a while back I realized that it never would have worked out between us for various reasons. You made him really happy though, he's had a crush on you since kindergarten." At this Jackie's eyes went wide and she looked nervous for some reason.

"For… that long?" Jackie fiddled her hands nervously. "Wow, that's a long time. I'm impressed with his devotion." Janna caught on to what was going on with Jackie and raised her eyebrow before asking another question.

"Wait… how into Marco are you?" Jackie stopped walking forcing Janna to stop and look at her.

"Well… like I said earlier he's one of the… best guys in school…" Janna's eyes narrowed as Jackie heaved a sigh. "I don't like Marco anywhere near as much as he likes me, I just wanted to try him out and see how well we went together." Janna's face went to normal and she chuckled slightly.

"What's wrong with that, isn't that how most relationships start these days?" Jackie sighed again and fixed Janna with a serious look.

"I leapt into a relationship with Marco because of Star." Janna's eyes went wide as Jackie continued. "I was afraid I would lose my chance with him as he is in real close proximity with Star and they might develop feelings for each other. Now, having leapt into this without all the information, I'm afraid that I might not like Marco that much and break his heart." Janna face took on a sympathetic look as Jackie continued on further. "But what's more, if Star develops feelings for him now… would I be a big enough bitch to fight her for Marco given how she seems to deserve him more?" Janna out right grabbed Jackie in a hug that Jackie returned after a few shocked seconds. "What will I do if all that comes about Janna?" The parted with Janna looking at Jackie smiling and coolly replied,

"Don't sweat it for now. What will happen will happen and there's nothing we can do about it. If you do need to break up with Marco, against all the odds, I suggest being upfront with him. He'll not take it well but he will take it no matter what happens. And just remember, I got your back from here on out sistah." Janna punched Jackie's arm softly and linked it with her arm. The two smiled as they continued walking home.

* * *

Brittany shambled into her home some three hours later still in a daze with her clothes slightly torn up around her legs due to catching them on stuff. As she went up the stairs the people her father had put in place to take care of the house went to greet her but stopped when they saw the state she was in. As she walked through the house one of the maids asked another,

"Is this normal." The other maid shook her head speaking slowly.

"Usually she complains about how something in her life didn't go great even though it went well. Something tells me she's had a hard dose of reality today." The maids then went back to work as Brittany went into her room that only be described as opulent.

She immediately went for a small box on her nightstand which looked like it hadn't been opened in years and took out a small bronze key that she used to unlock it. As it swung open a small cloud of dust dispersed revealing a picture of Brittany when she was 11 being somewhat chubby with acne and big rimmed glasses on with her hair in pig tails. In the picture she was hugging another girl who was short even for her age with an oversized grey sweater, limp bowl cut brown hair, and brown eyes behind big rimmed glasses as well. Brittany took the picture out and looked at it as memories forced their way into her head against her will like they had been for the last three hours.

* * *

 _The girl who had been with Brittany in the picture was kneeling on the ground crying over a broken science fair project with some older girls laughing at her walking away. As they left Brittany came out and held the girl close to her comforting her the best she could._

 _The girl sniffed several times before speaking, "Why can't they just leave me alone?" Brittany held her close and spoke softly._

 _"Don't worry, I'll cut those girls down to size if they won't willingly leave you alone."_

* * *

 _Brittany pulled on a green scrunchie over her right wrist as one of the mean girls from earlier, wearing a red scrunchie, congratulated Brittany in joining her._

 _"Now that you are with me, we can push those other girls aside and make the school a better place for everyone." As Brittany smiled thinking of the revenge she was going to give out the other girl looked at Brittany in a carefully calculating manner. "But first, we are going to have to make some changes."_

* * *

 _"Well done Brittany, you'll thank me for this later I promise." Brittany, now with less acne and no glasses with her hair let down, looked sad at the deleted contact on her phone._

 _'Don't worry, we'll be friends again soon enough.' Brittany thought to herself._

* * *

 _Kids at school were laughing as the other mean girls walked down the hallway covered in garbage with shame in their eyes. Brittany, now with no acne and a new slim athletic figure, chuckled to the side with the one last mean girl as the others faced their shame. The mean girl turned towards Brittany,_

 _"Nice thinking with hiring a mercenary from the low down to do this, you have potential." Brittany beamed at what she had accomplished and was looking forward to controlling the new school now._

* * *

 _Brittany was in her room talking with the mean girl and Chantal, who didn't have a green scrunchie yet, as someone knocked on her door._

 _Brittany moaned in annoyance, "What do you want?" A butler opened the door peaking in._

 _"Someone is here to see you miss."_

 _"Tell them I have more important things to do and to come back later." The butler nodded and went to the front of the house where Brittany's old friend was waiting and relayed the news._

 _The girl stood there for a few seconds before smiling and nodding walking away with tears coming down her face._

* * *

 _"Didn't you hear who died last night, it was that Korean girl." Brittany stopped and listened as she knew the person they were talking about._

 _"Yeah, she jumped off the bridge with a letter saying she was alone now with her best friend gone; I wonder who that could have been." Brittany blinked as she realized what that probably meant and shook it off moving forward thinking, 'No time to dwell on the past, I need to induct Chantal.'_

* * *

Brittany looked at the picture for the longest time as all the regretful things she had done over the years came barging in like a flood. She stood up and walked over to her impressive make-up set and took out some make-up remover smearing it all over her face. See then took off the dress she was wearing and used to wipe everything off to reveal a rounded cubby face slightly pock marked with a few stray acne on it. She then took off her wig and threw it to the side revealing ragged hair varying in length from half an inch to two inches long on her head. She then also pulled out some stuffing she had put in her bra and tossed it aside as a single tear formed in her eye.

"Well done, a lot of good you did for everyone." Brittany closed her eyes with the tear sliding down her face. "You irredeemable bitch." She then took off her red scrunchie and threw it into the garbage.

* * *

Star and Marco walked into school Monday with Star looking alright but with Marco scooting in close to her should Star need the support. As they walked through the halls people gave Star a wide berth but always hit their chest with a closed fist two times before using it to give the peace sign. Star smiled at this as people liked her still and were willing to give her some space, just what she always wanted. In fact, when they were nearly at their locker Star began skipping slightly with Marco glancing over smiling at how well Star had recovered from a few days ago.

"Wow, you do recover fast." Star chuckled turning to Marco speaking happily.

"Everything turned out ok for once, of course I'm happy." As they finally made it to their locker their quartet of friends were their waiting with Jackie and Starfan13 there as well. As everyone greeted Star, over joyed at how well she was, Starfan13 leapt at Star and gave her a hug so strong Star almost toppled over.

"I'm so glad you're ok Star. The Brittany girl will pay big time." Star chuckled slightly nervously as she got Starfan13 off and spoke to her.

"I wouldn't worry about that, I think she has plenty to deal with right now. I mean the whole school probably hates her." Everyone agreed with Janna stepping forward.

"I think even she realizes she went too far." Everyone turned to Janna in shock as she continued. "Didn't you hear, Brittany has gone off all social media and her phone number has been discontinued. It's almost like she has just disappeared entirely." Everyone looked at each other in shock as Marco began talking.

"Well she should be ashamed. Go away and stay gone so we can all have a happier time without you." Everyone cheered at Marco who blinked in shock at what he just said. "Wow I sounded real mean right there." Jackie scooted over to Marco and put her arm around his waist.

"Well after what she did to Star, I think it's deserved." She then leaned up and kissed him on the cheek making everyone awwww at how cute they looked. As they did so Star opened her locker to see it stuffed to capacity with letters that she could tell were get well soon letters. As the pile shifted Star yelped,

"London Bridge is falling!" And then was swamped by the pile of letters poking her head up after a few seconds. "Well I'll be fine, if everyone's love doesn't kill me first." At this the group shared a laugh.

 **I told you to be worried when "Heathers the Musical" was referenced people, at least it has a happy ending for the most part.**

 **Three chapters within 7 days, I'm on fire baby! Unless if this is later or the story is already complete, in which case I just wasted your time. :3 *a small flame ignites on my head with a fire siren sounding***

 **SN: One fire fight later.**

 ***I appear slightly singed on the head* Ok that got a bit to literal for my own good. Next up, Mewberty strikes Echo Creek; will the town still be standing?**


	17. Mewberty Pt 1

**Ah Mewberty, the single episode after "Blood Moon Ball" that was most requested. The turning point of the series that showed it could be more then a generic cartoon showing it could be creepy and serious as well as funny. Fans and critics loved it alike and I just have to say... I don't like this episode that much honestly. Yeah, it's rare where I find something I dislike that everyone else likes but it does happen. I could go on a rant of all the little things that added up like constantly cutting away from Star's transformation, not having enough time to establish what Mewberty is, Glossarick being a particular jackass out of any other episodes he's in, etc and so forth. But the primary complaint I have is Marco giving up and letting Star go; that is so out of character for him that I will never forgive this episode for that as Marco would NEVER just let Star go like he did, NEVER! There are some good bits to it like the creepy atmosphere, the area where Star makes her "nest", and most importantly the form Star takes is just awesome; but this episode just does not work for me.**

 **Now with that confession out of the way, let's move on to the episode itself. *In a quiet voice* Please don't hate me for disliking this episode, we all can have opinions right?**

Marco looked out the window annoyed as Oskar flew away on Floyd to sing across town again. He had been doing that recently attempting to "spread the music" as Oskar would say to the whole town's chagrin. Marco admired the guy's commitment to being a musician but never really asked himself the question 'Am I actually playing good music?' or 'Do I need to improve?' before playing around. Oskar was far from the worst singer but he could be pretty dang annoying at times; especially now that he had that bird to fly around on everywhere. Marco sighed and turned back to Star who was collecting up art supplies to put away. They had just finished art class and Star always volunteered to help the teachers whenever needed which had been earning her the title 'teacher's pet' amongst the students. Marco always helped Star out despite the fact it was bringing down his bad boy image but it didn't matter much to him now. After what he had been through in the past images of being awesome were secondary. As he helped Star he notice something on Star's forehead speaking up.

"Hey Star, I think you got paint on your face." Star felt around her face in confusion until she pulled off a purple heart from her forehead studying it for a second. The blood drained from her face as she got a terrified look that got Marco's attention as she threw the heart away in fear.

"No! Nononononononononononono! This can't be happening to me. Why is this happening to me?" Marco immediately went over to Star standing next to her.

"What's wrong, I think I'm missing something here." Star turned to Marco scared as a few more hearts popped up on her face making him take a step back.

"I'm going through something known as Mewberty. Why is it happening to me? Half-breeds aren't supposed to suffer from Mewberty according to studies the scholars have done on them." Star was now rubbing her tail clearly panicking as Marco got a random paper bag lying around and gave it to Star who set it aside. "I'm panicking not hyperventilating." Marco rubbed the back of his head slightly embarrassed before asking Star,

"So, what happens to those who go through Mewberty?" Star tried calming down to tell him but only partially succeeded.

"Well most people only experience minor symptoms like spots appearing on their bodies or having a fascination with those of the opposite biological sex. But mom told me that it's A LOT stronger the further up in royalty you are with the princess being the worst. This is gonna get to destroy the school level weird." Marco took another step back as Star turned to him grabbing onto his backpack. "You need to keep me away from boy- wait." Star blinked at him creepily moving in closer. "Marco's a boy." Star smiled creepily as Marco slowly detached himself from her with more spots popping up on her. Star then seemed to mentally swat herself on the wrist, "No bad Star, you're better than that." Marco then spoke up getting Star's attention.

"Ok, I have a feeling getting you home isn't going to help as there are a lot of boys and men between here and home. We are gonna have to hide you somewhere in the school until this passes. Do you have any more information about this Mewberty that I need to know?" Star shook her head no prompting Marco to take the lead. "Ok, there is an unused janitor's closet just down the hallway; if you can make it that far we can hide you there until this passes." Star nodded and followed him like a frightened puppy as Marco went down the hallway to the closet. Fortunately there were few people and none Marco could tell right off the bat were boys so he only had himself to worry about for now. As they moved through the hallway however a boy rounded the corner and opened his locker prompting Star's attention.

"Oh no a boy! Just look away; loooook away." Star turned her whole body to stare at the boy however walking backwards for a ways until they put some distance between themselves and the boy. "ehhhhh, Marco this isn't working." Marco turned to look back at Star and began speaking.

"Just follow the sound of my voice Star, just follow it." Star directed her attention at Marco as best she could trailing him. "Come on Star just 20 more steps until the end destination. That's it." Star followed Marco moving faster. "Alright Star, just 10 more steps now and you will be-" Star stopped however at the sound of a water fountain being turned on and turned to see a boy there.

"Boooooooy." Star spoke in a low and creepy fashion fixing the boy with an intense stare prompting Marco to grab onto her leftshoulder with his left hand.

"Star, look at-" However a few seconds after he made contact a layer of the purple hearts formed connecting together like purple thread making them both freeze in horror before screaming. "Star, the closet is right her just keep moving." Marco used the thread to swing Star around throwing her right next to the door to the closet. "Ok, I'll have it open in a second." Marco used his right hand to take a bobby pin and unlock the door making Star notice despite her panicked state.

"Where did you learn that?" Marco stood up slightly proud pocketing the bobby pin.

"From Janna, she taught me a surprising amount. Now in you go." Marco pointed to the room which Star scurried into without a second thought pulling the thread that connected them apart. "Now stay here, bar the door, and put in some sort of ear plugs to keep noise out. I'll be back once I figure out how to stop this, got it?" Star nodded but spoke up just as Marco was about to close the door.

"If you want my book I gave it to Janna so she could try to learn some spells." Marco fixed her with a deadpan stare making Star sweat slightly. "She did me a favor so I did her one." Marco face palmed before speaking.

"Next time, ask me for help instead of her." He then shut the door and took off in search of Janna.

* * *

Janna and Ferguson were looking through Star's magic book with massive grins on their faces as they found spells that sounded like they might work without the wand. Ferguson and Janna constantly took pictures of the spells and even made notes on how to find them as best as possible; but this was more of an adventure to them than actual research at the moment. Janna looked at Ferguson to the side and saw him putting a sticky note to act as a bookmark of sorts even though it would do no good in this book. Janna and Ferguson sounded like an odd duo but there were a surprising number of things that they had in common. They both liked role-playing games like D&D (he introduced her to it), they both liked causing mischief just for the fun of it (she introduced him to it), they both were avid history and literature geeks, and most importantly they both loved the idea of practical magic. In fact they were trying to start an occult club to gather more information but the school's bureaucracy was getting in the way; as usual.

Ferguson spoke up, "I really hope Star lets us at the book again; I don't think we can get it all in one day." Janna smiled turning the page.

"Oh don't worry, we may have this only once but we can have it as long as we want." They looked down at the page they were on to see it was a start to a chapter that was all about how to use spells without wands or latent magic. Janna and Ferguson looked at each other and squeed with joy as this was the one thing they desperately needed. "Do you think she'll miss this section?" Janna said as she ripped out the whole chapter stuffing it in her backpack with Ferguson shaking his head no. As they got back to reading Ferguson spoke,

"Odd, there are no love spells in here. I thought that was the first spell anyone would do." Janna cast him a creeped out suspicious look with Ferguson realizing what he implied. "Oh I wouldn't use it, I have this lovely fellow." He pulled out his belly making it talk. "The ladies can't resist me." Janna couldn't help but giggle at how strange he could be at times. 'No wonder our group of five formed when Marco was set as overseer.' Janna thought as they turned back to the book only to be interrupted by Marco running up to them.

"Guys, I need the book. Star's in trouble." The smiles fell from their faces as they realized this had to be serious if Marco was referencing Star.

* * *

Star pulled off another purple heart and threw it into the rather large pile that had formed in one corner of the closet. The door and the earmuffs she had conjured up to block the noise from outside did help enormously to the point where hearts had actually stopped popping up on her. Of course due to the small size of the closet she had to sit in the opposite corner of the pile of hearts making the pile seem even more intimidating then it should be. Star shuddered silently at what might have happened and pulled off what she was fairly sure was the last heart and flicked it into the pile sighing in relief. However her relief was short lived when a voice intruded in her mind.

"Go for boys." Star looked up and around trying to discern the source of it only realizing after a minute it had to have come from inside her head. "Yes, I'm you Star. Why are you hiding in a closet?" Star shuddered at the voice; hallucinations were not part of Mewberty by a long shot.

"You're not real, just a figment of my imagination." The voice chuckled before answering.

"I'm as real as you believe me to be and much much more. Now go get some boys to find the one best for you." Star shook her head trying to clear it.

"No, this voice does not exist."

"We can spend all day debating this but it does not change the fact that you should get some boys and go through them." Star shook her head again with the voice chuckling in amusement. "You do realize that is not going to do anything right? Go out and find boys, become what you were meant to be." Star shook her head gritting her teeth.

"No. I'm not a bad monster; I never will be." The voice chuckled again as if this were a game.

"Just kidnapping people is not that horrible, they can brush it off. You will not be evil, only beautiful." Star shuddered at the tone it took before realizing hearts were beginning to pop up again.

"No, nonononoNONONONO." Star began picking off hearts as fast as possible inadvertently knocking her wand into the pile of hearts. When she went to pick it up hearts flew up to her whenever she got within a few inches of them. "No!" Star gave a panicked sob of despair. Images began going through her mind of her kidnapping people and imprisoning them with villagers coming after her with pitchforks and torches like they did when she was five; except this time they were justified. Somehow the images stopped the hearts from popping up temporarily allowing her to scrape off the hearts stuck to her hand and those that had popped up. The voice chuckled before speaking again,

"Two can play at that game." Images of hot boys began filing through her mind. Crushes she had in the past that had rejected her now imprisoned to her will, boy bands she had discovered on earth serenading her personally, and all the hunky knights in the kingdom there looking up at her adoringly. Star tried fighting the images but more hearts began popping up much faster then she could pull them off prompting her to draw her claws and try shredding them off. As she flung the shredded hearts to the side the voice spoke again,

"tsk tsk tsk, You are a stubborn one." Then an image popped into her head of Marco, shirtless exposing the toned body Star had seen before from the waist up, holding a plate of his nachos, with a warm smile on his face. He seemed to speak, "Come to me Star, I'll keep you safe and warm from any nasty villagers." This didn't cause more hearts to pop up but distracted Star from pulling off hearts making them spread. Star shut her eyes trying to keep the image away.

"No. Stop, please!" Tears began streaming down her face as she stumbled and fell into the pile of hearts knocking her wand to the door. The hearts began accumulating on her from the pile and naturally. Star began to feel her mind go blank and numb with her last words being, "I don't want to be a bad girl." The hearts finished accumulating with the pile stilling. After a few seconds a pair of reddish glowing lights the shape of hearts emerged where Star's eyes were. The hearts began hardening into a chrysalis with vines growing around it and pushing at the door out of the closet.

* * *

"Come on come on, there has to be something in here." Marco was panicking as he flipped through the book with Ferguson and Janna standing to the side feeling slightly nervous. Marco had informed them of what was happening but in a rush and disjointed, so much was left to their imaginations. After a little while Marco stopped and hit his head on the book speaking in frustration,

"Isn't there a table of contents, index, or even a Glossary for this book?!" The book itself seemed to shift much to their amazement and began to speak.

"Did someone say Glossarick?" The pages flipped fast shooting out a one foot tall bald blue man wearing a brown bath robe and had a pinkish purple gem in his forehead. "Greetings, I am sir Glossarick of terms in service to the magical high commission and the counsel of the Butterfly line of Mewni." He waved a hand creating his name and title above him in golden letters that rotated before coming to rest. "Now my princess, what is it you wish to know." Ferguson and Janna couldn't help but laugh at this with Marco ready to tell Glossarick off but a thought came to mind. What if Glossarick didn't help him because he wasn't a princess? Marco shook himself a second and spoke in a higher pitched tone of voice,

"Princess Marcia wishes to know about Mewberty Sir Glossarick." Janna and Ferguson looked at him in shock as Glossarick thought for a second.

"Well, assuming that you read your "Mewberty and You" book that your parents were supposed to give you, you would know about common initial side effects of which you are experiencing none now."

"Well it's not me it's a friend of mine Star Butterfly. I need to know how to help her overcome it." Glossarick thought for a few agonizing seconds before he spoke.

"Well unfortunately there is nothing you can do about it." Marco groaned in exasperation as Glossarick continued. "Either she will be back to normal by 3:57pm or she will not be; let nature take its course Marcia." The duo nearby chuckled with Ferguson whispering,

"I know this is serious, but could honestly imagine anyone calling Marco Marcia with a straight face?" Janna chuckled before replying.

"Not by a long shot." Glossarick looked at the two blinking slowly.

"So you're not a princess? Well you fooled me, best to just let your friend go boy." Glossarick dived back into the book with Marco sighing in exasperation.

"This isn't helping what am I supposed to…" He then froze realizing there was one person he could call for help like he did two times before. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the mirror saying, "Call Toffee." And the mirror rung for a few times before Toffee answered, looking very disheveled, his shirt off, and not too happy as he spoke.

"This had better be…" he then noticed Marco was calling and calmed down a bit. "…well at least I know it's important. What is it Marco?"

"Star is going through Mewberty and I don't know what to do." Janna and Ferguson clustered in close seeing Star's father for the very first time and just stared in awe as Toffee spoke.

"So it did affect Star despite being only half Mewman, and she is one early bloomer; even earlier then you Moon." Toffee spoke the last bit to someone off screen with what seemed to be Moon giggling. Toffee turned back and continued, "Well first off, don't go to the book for help it will be of no use."

Marco replied, "Yeah Glossarick wasn't very helpful either." Toffee nodded.

"So you've been acquainted with that annoying man? Well, the best thing you can do is to isolate Star from people until it passes which I assumed you did?" Marco nodded with Toffee continuing. "That might not work though and if she does turn what you need to do is keep her from getting her hands on a certain boy. No idea who he may be but Star will single out a certain boy and go after him." The trio of friends looked at each other as Toffee continued. "If she does get her hands on him she might never turn back as the point of her hunting a boy is an ancient remnant of Mewman biology to find a proper mate to take care of her when pregnant; and it can be any boy for any reason even a close friend she has no romantic interest in." Marco heard Moon in the background.

"When I went through Mewberty I went after Toffee even though he was just my tutor at the time." The trio of kids shuddered slightly at the thought with a question entering Marco's mind.

"Wait, what do you mean by "turned"?"

* * *

A quartet of buff guys from the swim club, wearing only swim trunks, were walking along the hallway chatting with each other nonchalantly as they went back to the locker room.

"Dude, why'd they have to shut down the whole hallway, there's like plenty of room to squeeze by."

"Man, they just wanna be careful. Safety is not something you mess with you know." A third guy piched the bridge over his nose groaning slightly.

"I know I shouldn't be dwelling on this but I'm gonna pound the jackass who threw the turd in the swimming pool." The other three agreed with a fourth one speaking.

"Yeah that all sucks, but we got to show off to the group of ladies." The three others did concede that. "That Sabrina was even looking at me directly out of all of us. I think I should go in with the Heathers now split up." The other three clapped him on the back encouragingly.

"Go for it man, she's not gonna be free forever you know." The laughed but stopped as they heard a cracking sound coming from the abandoned janitors closet. "Ok, did another person get stuck in there? Hey man you ok?" He went to knock on the door only to have it blasted off its hinges across the hallway in a burst of greenish black mist with a few vines popping out of it. They group stared in shock as a slim yet powerful looking clawed hand reached out and grabbed the door frame cracking it, followed by five more as something seemed to slither out. The quartet looked up at the creature as it took to the air making a crackling buzzing sound as a pair of big blood red eyes fixed its gaze on them indifferently.

"Booooy." It said in a creepy yet dreamy fashion before striking.


	18. Mewberty Pt 2

"…and that's about all you should know. Now I suggest you get back to Star and guard the entrance incase if someone decides to break in with the intent of rescuing her. Goodbye." Toffee hung up leaving Marco, Janna, and Ferguson in shock and terrified about what might happen next. As they came back to reality that heard screams from people running in their direction. Turning around the trio saw girls running away from where Marco had put Star for safe keeping, with Marco's eyes dilating in fear as he spoke.

"No." He turned back to his friends, "Set alarms for 3:57, we need to save the school and Star from herself." Janna and Ferguson nodded setting alarms for 3:57 while following Marco. As they did so Ferguson spoke up.

"Ummm, what exactly are we supposed to do? I mean you can fight Marco but Janna can't do that much and I can do nothing." Marco turned back to him speaking as they ran.

"I may need your help in helping boys Star goes after as I can't' do everything. Now keep moving." Marco led the way with Ferguson and Janna not looking too sure about this.

As they got closer everything seemed to go quiet with even the insects and other animal being gone from the area. The trio rounded a corner to find a scene like something out of a science fiction/fantasy horror story. A thick cloud of greenish black vapor had condensed in the air above the school spreading slowly putting the whole scene into an early and eerie twilight. Strange black and green vines lay all over the place growing over the sides of lockers, into classrooms, and formed a strange rubbery carpet over the floor of the school. Strange heart shaped leaves were growing on some of those vines and tinkled in the wind like wind chimes with a delicate hollow clink like crystal. A thin greenish black fog lay in the school blurring vision slightly and smelling… what could only be described as a strange sweet-minty flavor that relaxed the smeller and made them drowsy. Marco shook his head looking into the fog and said,

"I'm not leaving Star or anyone else behind." And began walking into the fog pushing aside vines that got in his way. Janna and Ferguson followed grimly but were begening to show signs of fear.

After pushing through the mist for a little ways Marco found a curtain of vines that he recognized blocked off the hallway where he left Star to begin with. Peeking through cautiously he saw where the closet door had been pushed out of its hinges and thrown across the hallway denting the lockers. He shuddered because he knew Star was strong, she could bench-press nearly 350 pounds due to her Septarian genetics, but she was not THAT strong. He looked even further across the hallway to see a strange corral-cage-net combo holding what seemed to be a large group of boys huddling in fear. Marco withdrew from the curtain and turned back to his friends whispering.

"Ok, I see the boys out there and Star is gone. You two will sneak out and free the boys trapped in a strange mesh net of sorts Star has. I will wait to pop out and distract her should she come back, but once I do so run as I don't know how long I will be able to hold her." The two gulped and nodded in worry as Marco led them out through the net and down the hallway nearing where the corral was. As they got close they heard a strange buzzing and crackling sound that seemed like wings flapping and got into cover. Fortunately the number of vines meant that they could just pull some over themselves and watch as something came to a rest in front of the corral.

They could see some features of Star in there but they were muted and covered by what she had turned into. Her skin was no longer a shade of concrete grey but was a deep black with greenish stripes and swirls running through it almost making her blend into the mist. Her once silver hair was now a cool glowing green done up in ordinary pigtails but seemed to bend and wave with a life of their own like tentacles framing an emotionless face. Her eyes were now a solid shade of blood red with a heart shaped pupil in the center and seemed to hypnotize the trio as they watched her with her Mewni marks still recognizable. Even her clothes had changed to a more formal version of the Victorian gothic Lolita except it seemed to be adjusted for combat. The biggest change however were her wings, on her right side were two black dragonfly wings with a green bat wing between them and on the left were two black bat wings with a green dragonfly wing between them. Her arms seemed normal except for the fact that there were now six of them holding a large web sack of boys that she now opened. She began picking up the boys like toys going through them sniffing them and usually tossed them aside but occasionally smiled slightly and threw them into the corral before continuing.

Marco inhaled and exhaled before stepping out of hiding and walking towards Star with deliberate steps. The boys in both nets noticed Marco and beckoned him to go away with whispers of "save yourself" scattered among them. Star didn't even seem to notice Marco as she continued to go through boys like fruit at a super market even as he stood next to her and began speaking.

"Star, you need to stop this. I don't know what is going on in your mind right now but you have to at least listen to me." When she didn't notice he spoke again. "It's me Marco Star; your bestie. Don't you recognize me?" She still didn't respond frustrating Marco a little. "Notice me will you, I'm here to help." He grabbed one of her arms making her stop and stare at him with her red eyes dropping her net of boys making them scatter. "Star listen to me, I can help you. You just have to listen to me and trust me."

Star cocked her head to the side as if trying to make sense of things and knocked him into a wall with considerable force. Before Marco could respond Star opened all six of her hands and blasted a strange thread like substance out of her palms gluing him to the wall. Marco struggled but not to break free, he wouldn't be able to do that quickly, just to distract Star as his friends had rushed out to free the boys in the corral with them running away quietly. Star stepped up staring at him for a second as if confused and then ripped him off the wall sniffing him like she did the other boys, gagging like she had smelled something awful. She was about to toss him aside but paused and stared at him for several long seconds before leaning in to smell him again. After gagging again she pulled off his hoodie and threw it aside with some people behind her snickering with Marco's face going deadpan for a second. Star pulled Marco in sniffing him again and froze as if trying to process something important and looked him straight in the face.

"Marco?" Its voice was like Star's but dreamy and creepy at the same time, but what it said got the attention of everyone that was left behind her.

"Yes it's me Star, Marco. I've come back to help you; I'm never going to leave you behind." The creature blinked as if recognizing Marco's words and leaned in smelling him again.

It then gave out a moan full of pleasure muttering "Marco" in a dreamy voice and began inhaling his scent in deeply like it was a drug. Its six arms began rubbing Marco all over his body slipping through the thread bonds with ease without severing them. Marco began to get nervous as the rubbing and smelling grew more intense by the second and tried speaking again.

"Star what are you doing? You are making me feel uncom-" Star then set two of her hands to his butt and gripped the two cheeks forcefully making him squeal out the last bit. "-fortable!" Everyone behind Star began backing away with Ferguson actually speaking.

"Oh man this is big and bad, I can't watch!" He shielded his eyes with the boys that were left doing the same thing. Janna on the other hand,

"I can't… look away." Janna spoke in shock as she was hypnotized by the erotic display of Star and Marco.

Marco remained still, frozen in fear as Star was borderline molesting him inhaling his scent ever deeper like she wished to infuse it into herself. After a while she stopped pulling back staring at him with half lidded eyes like she was coming off of a high, or starting on one. As she did so her hair moved towards him slowly caressing his face sending shivers down his spine of both disgust and excitement. And that was when Marco realized, he was the boy she was looking for the whole time. 'But she doesn't like me that way, why would she…' Then Marco remembered, it didn't need to be someone she was romantically interested in just someone who would take care of her; and he had been doing that for Star every day since she first came to earth. Then her look got predatory and she wrapped Marco up in some more thread and began flying up holding Marco bridal style as she got up to the rooftops. She landed on the rooftop and just stared up at the sky as if relishing the moment vibrating her wings with Marco thinking a mile a second. Realizing this may be his last chance to get free he twisted and leaned backwards kicking Star in the face with his feet landing on his belly in a worm position. Star shook her head and stared at him with a hurt expression as he wriggled the thread off of himself surprisingly quickly. 'Wow this thread is weak.' Marco thought, 'It can slow me down for a few seconds but can't really hold unless if there is a lot of it.' He then faced Star and spoke,

"I'm sorry Star, but I can't just let you take me and stay in this form. I want the real Star back." He then took a fighting stance and faced Star down intimidatingly. She just blinked hurt and confused muttering,

"Marco." Then her face got predatory again like she was about to play a game. "Maaaaarco." She looked him up and down licking her lips as she shot more thread at him.

Marco cartwheeled away from the threads and backed away knowing he couldn't beat Star hand to hand even in her normal state let alone this state. He looked at his watch seeing 3:40; he didn't need to keep her at bay for long just long enough. He turned and ran to edge of the roof keeping low to avoid thread shots and leapt off of it to a dumpster down below. He didn't aim for the garbage though and instead used the balls of his feet, the area just behind the toes, to springboard off the rim ducking and rolling to burn off excess energy as he started running. He glanced back only briefly to see Star leap off the roof flapping her wings and soaring in his direction covering the distance between them fast. Marco then changed direction and ran directly for a wall with Star chuckling behind him taking aim with her arms as she got in close. She would have trapped him were it not for the fact that Marco knew how to free-run. He leapt up using the wall as leverage and his running momentum to carry him up a short distance as he leapt off right at Star who, as he had hoped, kept going forward but was too confused to grab him. He grabbed her shoulders with his hands and somersaulted right over her back driving Star directly into the wall with a solid thud. He landed and hit the ground running right back to where the others had been as Star had left him something that he could actually use to his advantage, he hoped.

Star shook herself off looking around with a cold predator's precision trying to find where her mate had run off to. As strange as it may sound, this creature was caught off guard and saddened but accepted that it had to catch and subdue its mate to prove her worth. She had Marco's scent so there was nowhere he could hide and after sniffing around for a few minutes it realized he had gone right back to where she had first found him. Smiling carnivorously she followed him back to her corral for the "lesser" males she had been going through and found him in the corral with the others gone. She swooped down expecting him to run but not running, allowing her to unleash her thread from all arms. Smiling she moved in close only to realize the thread already there had blocked her shots.

Marco then leapt out throwing some of the webbing in her face confusing her for just long enough so he could get a good kick in. He had a feeling Star could still heal if she put effort into it so he struck with a downward kick to one of her arms in an attempt to break it and was rewarded with it coming completely off. He stood there in shock as Star wiped the thread off and looked at the stump the arm on her left side. It smiled at him in an impressed manner and actually giggled in glee as she struck at him with the arms on her right side knocking him 20 feet into a locker knocking the wind out of him. Marco immediately ducked and rolled despite the pain that shot through his body dodging five shots of thread directed at him. He got up as the creature leapt at him in an attempt to bear hug him so he leapt a full four feet in the air and landed a solid kick directly into her right eye with himself wincing at what he did to Star.

The creature screamed in pain sounding oddly like a raptor from Jurassic park and rolled on the ground in pain for a second before taking to the air flying high up. Marco caught his breath waiting for it to make its move and was shocked when he saw it slam straight into the ground making a crater. He went over to the edge and looked in to see the creature was really ragged looking now with bits that looked like… the normal Star! As he gaped he saw Star's face and saw the eye he had kicked in was back to normal but the skin around it was slowly changing back into the creature. Star had tears coming from her eyes as she yelled out to him pleading,

"Marco… HELP MEEEE!" She reached up and pulled out one of her pigtails making her scream out like a raptor again.

Marco realized what he had to do, and was gonna hate himself for doing it. Taking a steadying breath he charged forward and started by ripping the other pigtail out eliciting another screech. The bat wing on her right side immediately began ripping up the dragonfly wings with one of her hands trying to stop it. Marco immediately cut down on the hand stopping the wing with a karate chop not severing it but still breaking it. One of the other two hands tried grabbing onto him but the other free hand grabbed onto that hand trying to pull it off Marco. Marco twisted and turned pulling the arm and Star around in a circle slamming her to the ground and somehow pulling off the whole arm which dissolved into the mini hearts. He then looked down in triumph only to realize the broken arm had healed and the detached one was already regrowing.

"Don't worry Star, I'm not giving up." He turned her over and, closing his eyes trembling all over, punched her in the left eye directly.

An ear splitting scream emanated from Star as he felt something shatter and then squish making him sick to his stomach. He was suddenly grabbed onto by two of Star's arms and the two bat wings immediately impaled the arm he used to punch Star. Screaming in pain Marco was grabbed and thrown to the side with a solid thud that echoed through his body. As he tried to get up Star flailed a bit slicing him up with her claws and bat wings forcing him back to the ground. He looked up to see Star scramble away from him as best as possible knowing she would heal up from this and that he would be unable to defend himself now. But his despair was interrupted when a bolt of energy flew through the air striking Star making her stagger. Marco blinked looking around painfully to see Janna standing there with a grime look on her face and some sort of magic staff in her hands. It was about 4 feet long and made out of pitch black wood with glowing pink carvings of ravens and pentagrams all over it and a hot pink crystal the shape of a shrunken head with whitish pink flames dancing around it at the end. Janna looked at Star sighing heavily,

"I'm sorry girlfriend, but this is for your own good. _Azerath Meteron Zinthos_!" Janna pointed the staff at Star sending a pink-streaked black raven flying at Star. Star just looked at in surprise as it hit her head sending her flying a good thirty feet impacting the ground heavily. Marco looked at Janna in shock speaking slowly,

"What is…" Janna answered him quickly.

"Star seemed to have lost her wand in the transformation so I picked it up for safe keeping." She then smiled slightly. "Look how cool it is when configured to me man." Marco groaned as he sat up with Janna realizing the beating he just got. "Oh God man, here let me…" but before she got any further a beeping sounded from their watches making them look down. 3:57 pm.

Marco immediately got up ignoring the pain and ran towards Star's position followed by Janna closely who held the staff at the ready. They got to the edge of Star's blast area to see that her features had indeed changed back to normal with a few features still melting off into a pile of not so sticky hearts now. Star seemed to be sobbing but when she looked up her tear streaked face was smiling at Marco relived.

"The voices are gone Marco, I can be a good girl again!" Marco limped over and hugged Star who hugged him gently as if apologizing. They sat there for what felt like an eternity happy that this was over when the felt a buzzing on Star's back. A wave of panic shot through them as they broke apart looking at Star's back which seemed to have sprouted three inch long replica wings that Star had in her transformed state. "I got my Mewberty wings, something good did come out of this." Star pumped her fist in victory as Janna spoke up.

"Say, do you want your wand back?" Janna held out the wand with Star eagerly taking it back turning it back to normal. "Say how is it that the wand was able to configure to me in the first place; I'm not a Butterfly or a Mewman?" Star chuckled slightly before answering.

"The wand will change for just about anyone actually, my dad even used it once to give my mom a healing spell when she was hurt. However if you're not a Butterfly and your intentions are not "pure" it can drive you mad with power." Marco looked at Janna nervously as Janna smiled with Star catching on. "And no, I'm putting a spell on it to keep you from stealing it in the future." Janna sighed in annoyance as Star looked around the area. "I'm gonna face a lot of fallout from this aren't I?" Marco sighed and nodded,

"Don't worry about that right now, can you heal me as I'm in a lot of pain right now."

 **To KairaB, your request for a MoonxToffee wedding is available under the title "The Full Moon Wedding". I hope I did a good enough job. ;)**

 **And to answer the question I know I'm going to get, in canon it is possible for the wand to configure to everyone I did not actually change that. Lobster Claws was able to make it change for himself after all.**

 **Just to let everyone know I don't actually hate ANY episode from Star vs the Forces of Evil, and this one isn't even on the bottom of the list of those I dislike. Sorry if I sounded too harsh earlier. *I hate being mean-spirited***

 **Wow, two dramatic chapters in a row that takes a lot out of you. I wonder what the pixies of "Pixtopia" have in store for a lighter hearted chapter.**


	19. Pixtopia Pt 1

**One question that has probably been on your minds since day one, even though no one has asked yet, is with Toffee as Moon's husband and Mavis as the bad guy, where is River? Well if you didn't read the previous story to this you will get your answers in this chapter.**

Marco biked home from his karate class, still in his karate gear and green belt with two stripes, smiling to himself over his date later today with Jackie. They were going to the movie theater to watch a new installment of a long series of comic book movies that connected together into a single universe. He was still shocked at how far the series had come after watching the first one that had come out in 2008. After the movie they planned on going out to a small restaurant before going to the local park to just walk or maybe skateboard through the area for a while. He breathed in and out relishing the fact that he had gotten this far with Jackie and felt happy, just happy. When he got home he put his bike away and went inside seeing a note on the kitchen counter from his mom to him. He picked it up and read it blushing at the message telling him to bring Jackie in for a baby picture showing of Marco.

"MOM!" Marco shouted in frustration with his voice ringing throughout the house.

* * *

"Mirror mirror on the wall, call anyone." Oskar spoke with the mirror responding.

"Calling anyone." Star and Alfonzo giggled to the side as Oskar took up a pose. He was wearing a purple cape with a gold painted cardboard crown atop his head and some small things to make him look like royalty. Star was wearing a brown heavily patched up frock like particularly poor peasants might wear and Alfonzo was wearing a superhero's costume that looked like batman. The mirror was picked up by some sort of humanoid who appeared to be made of green slime with the slime coming off in parts as drips. It looked confused and spoke with a masculine voice,

"Um, hello?" Oskar took a pose and held his keytar out like it was a scepter.

"Hey man, I am the son of Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin of the kingdom of rock and I wish to extend my family's warmest vibs to you." Oskar smiled at him with the guy looking around nervously before responding.

"Umm… is this a prank?" Star and Alfonzo giggled some more as Oskar continued in character.

"No it is not man. We wish to test you out with our B.A.S.S. to see if you have what it takes to participate in the land of rock and roll." Oskar strummed his keytar with Star and Alfonzo continuing to giggle and Star cutting open a portal to where she was pretty sure the guy was. The guy looked around even more nervously and spoke.

"Um, I don't know about this." Oskar smiled clamly trying to put the guy at ease.

"Don't worry man; it will be just a quick test. Starting… now!" Alfonzo dropped a fish through the portal landing on top of the guy's head prompting Oskar to smile. "So, how do you like our bass?" The guy immediately hung up with Star giggling, Alfonzo rolling on the floor laughing, and Oskar chuckling non-stop. "Man, this is fun no matter what you use to call people. And to top it off it does no actual harm." Star spoke up stepping to Oskar.

"My turn." Oskar nodded and stepped aside as Star stepped up to the mirror in Star's room. "Ahem, mirror mirror on the wall, call –"

"MOM!" Marco's voice rang out from the kitchen before Star could finish speaking with the mirror dialing.

"Calling, Tom." Star's eyes immediately went wide.

"No no NONONO." But the call was picked up by a pale grey skinned guy with pink colored hair done in a flame fashion on his head with two horns poking out of it. He also had three red eyes, one of which was on his forehead, and was wearing a dull red shirt with a deep red circle on his chest and a light red star in the center of the circle. The minute he saw Star his eyes lit up but had a touch of concern to them.

"Star! Wait, are you ok-" Star cut him off.

"No no, this was a mistake." Tom interjected quickly,

"But you're wearing rags that even the poorest don't use Star. And since we are here now, do you want to-" Star spoke quickly again.

"No I do not; this is prank call that back fired. Hanging up." Star pushed the hang up button as flames leaped up behind Tom, his eyes going a solid orangish-red with his voice getting deep in an intimidating manner.

"Star, don't you dare hang up!" Star hung up gritting her teeth slightly and shivering a little. Once the bout of nervous anger passed she looked up to see Alfonzo and Oskar looking at her oddly. Star sighed and spoke,

"He is an ex-boyfriend, and he was the best of the bunch to give my dating life perspective." The two looked at Star in concern moving in for a group hug which Star accepted. As they did so Marco walked in to see them and just stared for a few seconds.

"Ummm, what is going on?" the trio parted and looked at each other giggling slightly. Alfonzo spoke up,

"We were just making some crank calls Marco, want to join us?" He pointed at the mirror with Marco's eyes lighting up.

"Oh yeah I do." Marco stepped up to the mirror with the other three moving to the sides to watch. "Mirror mirror on the wall, call anyone."

"Calling anyone." The group giggled but instead of a ringing the mirror made a strange disconnected noise. As the group looked at the mirror in concern a turquoise skinned blue eyed humanoid with bright purple hair done up in curls and wearing a purple suit appeared in the mirror. She spoke in a soft professional manner,

"I'm sorry, but you have exceeded your minutes; your mirror service has been temporarily suspended. Please visit our office in Pixtopia to settle your bill." With a light chuckling the pixie hung up. Star immediately began to panic.

"No nonono, I need to call my parents tonight. They are going to be so mad when they realized I spent all my minutes; especially on crank calls." Star grabbed her tail holding it nervously as Marco stepped in.

"Will it really be that bad if we don't tell them it was crank calls?" Star grabbed Marco and pulled him in close till they were face to face.

"My dad finds out about these things, you can't hide anything from him if he wishes to find out about it. And when they do… well my mom might be ok with it but my dad will not at the very least. We need to solve this now." Star cut open a portal to Pixtopia and began stepping through it only to be stopped by Oskar who spoke in a calming manner.

"Star, we encouraged you to do this; we are coming with you to help settle this, right?" he looked at Alfonzo who nodded happily and then looked at Marco who was giving him a confused look.

"Um, I didn't contribute to this except for the final call." He then looked at Star again seeing her nervousness and sighed heavily. "But I'll go anyways; however we need to be back before 4pm so I can get to my date with Jackie." Star nodded smiling,

"Don't worry, I know the king and queen of Pixtopia; this should be a breeze.

* * *

Star stepped through the portal as did Alfonzo, Oskar, and Marco with their various clothes still on as the portal closed behind them with. As they stepped through they saw the woodlands they were in were brightly colored with lots of toadstools and ancient willow trees everywhere. Scattered everywhere around them were small fields of brightly colored flowers and crystal clear pools of water surrounded by picturesque cattail plants. Even the air felt different smelling like it had just rained in a high mountain pine forest in spring, smelling of new growth and an excessive amount of life. As they looked around they were beset on all sides by bluish colored pixies about 6 inches to one foot tall who literally swarmed them just to welcome them.

"Welcome to Pixtopia." The group of friends looked around seeing them all begin to dance around them as one strummed a lute speaking to them.

"In Pixtopia, we love everything." A group dancing near them sang sweetly,

"With our pixie hearts and our pixie wings." One flew down to hug a frog close while singing.

"We are friends with every frog we meet." One also flew and landed on a random flower before singing.

"Even our bathrooms smell so sweet." The flower closed up with an almost cute sounding fart coming from the flower as she sang. Marco looked around and began speaking,

"I haven't felt this type of environment since I've been to Disney world." Star smiled with a sigh before turning to the other three.

"Come on; time to show you a couple of friends of my mom and a non-earth friend of mine." Star rushed forward eagerly with the others following her but getting side tracked occasionally. Marco actually had to stop Star to point out Alfonzo was obsessing over how small the pixies were and Oskar for trying to play music to them. "Guys, you can flirt and make friends with the pixies later; Marco and I need to get back before 4 pm." Oskar nodded smiling and left the pixie group with Alfonzo looking on sadly calling back to the pixies.

"I'll be back guys, I swear it." Marco shook his head looking around as pixies continued to watch them. 'I wonder what strange thing will happen next?' He then knocked on a random willow tree hopping he didn't just jinx their group.

* * *

Marco, Alfonzo, and Oskar looked up in awe at the living structure that was coming up in the woods. Up ahead was a tree that would dwarf a Sequoia in size that seemed to have been carved or shaped by magic in such a way that it turned into a single living structure. Along the branches and coming out from various holes that looked like owls would roost in came twinkling green, blue, and purple lights. Light filtered down through the leaves of the tree casting the area beneath it into a calming perpetual twilight that was made even more magical by a soft sweet music coming in from seemingly everywhere. Pixies fluttered in and out of it in spots all over the surface sometimes carrying items or, even in one or two cases, living struggling people of various sorts. Marco turned to Star asking her,

"Is this the pixie equivalent of a royal palace?" Star stared up at it smiling with her eyes going back to the beautiful shade of purple-green Marco had only seen in the Forest of Certain Death.

"Yes." Star inhaled and exhaled softly at complete ease. "Come on, we need to get this phone bill out of the way so you can go on your date with Jackie. Be lucky I know the king and queen, if not we would be dumped in the crystal shard mines until our debt was paid off." Star skipped off with Marco shuddering slightly before following her.

The quartet entered the surprisingly human sized hallways of the tree through a large hole in the tree that looked like badger hole and went down into the earth for a little ways. They moved along at normal speed through the tree for a short distance until they got to some sort of elevator with the buttons for it looking like acorns. Sitting in front of it at a desk was what appeared to be the pixie equivalent of a secretary writing something out when she noticed the group.

"Oh hello there, do you have an appoint-" She then noticed Star and her eyes went wide. "Star Butterfly, what brings you here; and in peasants garb?" Star smiled and spoke calmly.

"I am here to see Tempest and hopefully his mom and dad. Are they in?" The secretary nodded eagerly.

"Step right in, they should be available in a few minutes." The secretary gestured to the elevator and hit some sort of button on her desk. "Your majesty, Star is here to see you."

Star hit the button on top and the elevator opened near immediately with Star stepping in beckoning everyone else in. Marco stepped in, Alfonzo followed, and Oskar tried to get in but had to squish everyone to the sides of the elevator because there just wasn't enough room to stand comfortably. They did manage to get the doors closed as Alfonzo spoke,

"Umm, is this thing going to be able to hold all our weight?" As if to answer him the elevator started moving upwards without pause. Star smiled and said,

"Never doubt magic people, it will work; except for when it doesn't." The trio turned to look at Star with eyebrows raised. "What, nothing is perfect ok." They group nodded in confusion as the elevator quickly took them up with Oskar suddenly giggling slightly.

"Hey man, I'm flattered you view me that way but could you guys not tickle me in here; especially around my thigh." Alfonzo blinked in shock replying,

"Um, I'm not..." Marco and Alfonzo looked at each other like at a western shoot out until Marco felt the tickling too.

"Um guys, I feel it as well." He then made connections and leapt to a conclusion turning to Star. "Star, is your tail acting up on its own?" Oskar and Alfonzo turned to Star who blushed pulling up her tail from below with effort.

"Sorry sorry, not used to confined spaces." At that the elevator dinged as it stopped with the door opening knocking everyone out into a pile. The group looked up to see a throne room made from living wood with two thrones at the far end that were currently empty. The group got up looking around as Star spoke, "They should be here in a minute, a king and queen have more important things to do then sit in a throne all day after all." The trio of boys walked around the room taking a close look sound just taking in the strangely druidic and fey power the room exuded. Marco ran his hands along the wall feeling every little carving that had been put in there through one means or another.

He spoke his thought aloud, "I keep on being surprised at how intricate and beautiful many things wind up being across the dimensions."

"Indeed, tis always a humbling sight. Now what is a robed monk, a king of music, a caped bat like person, and a "peasant" girl we know so well doing up here?" Marco jumped at the new voice and turned around to see coming from a side passage three figures.

One was around four feet tall or so and had a long glorious blond beard with hair to match with sharp but friendly blue eyes; looking rather ripped in a blue open vest and pants that he saw male pixies had been wearing earlier. To his right was a female pixie around eight inches tall with blue skin and loose flowing purple hair wearing a purple dress that appeared to be made of an alien form of leaves clinging onto his arm. To her right was a male figure somewhere between two and half feet and three feet tall with pointed ears that seemed to be a mesh of the two figures. He had purple and blond striped hair and white skin with bluish-green eyes that appeared almost too big for him with a pair of Dragonfly wings on his back allowing him to hover like the other pixies. He was wearing a green and purple open vest and pants revealing he was built strongly like the man but incredibly lean like the pixie. 'If I had to guess, he is their son.' Marco thought as the pixie called out to them.

"Star, it's always nice to see you around these parts. Oh, and you brought friends as well." She immediately fluttered away from the man and looked them over. "Who are all of you?" Marco spoke up first.

"I'm Marco Diaz, Star's bestie from earth." This got a pleased reaction from the parents and son trio.

"I'm Alfonzo, one of her friends as well." Marco glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Oskar was blushing slightly as he gazed at the son.

"Um… I'm Oskar man." The trio laughed and began introducing themselves as well.

"Well I am king River of Pixtopia friends of Star." The short man spoke smiling at them all in a very jolly manner.

"I am Bonibell, Empress of Pixtopia." The pixie spoke immediately going back to River's arm.

"My name is Tempest, and I'm Star's bestie from Pixtopia. Nice to see you made new friends hopper." Star smiled profusely clasping Tempest in a hug which he returned eagerly. "So what brings you all to Pixtopia?" Star got off of Tempest with her eyes turning back to their normal green color and looking a little nervous. Marco stepped up to the plate,

"We accidently went over the minutes of Star's mirror service by making crank calls. Is there a way we can repay it without going into the shard mines?" River, Bonibell and Tempest looked at each other for a second and smiled chuckling slightly turning back to the trio with River speaking.

"Actually, how well can you fight?" The quartet of friends looked at each other in confusion before Star answered.

"Well I can as you know all too well." She winked at the family and pointed to her friends. "Marco is actually a pretty fearsome warrior himself capable of taking down half a dozen forest barbarians with his bare hands." The family oohed in awe as Star pointed towards Oskar. "He has a bird of prey pet almost the size of this throne room that could be helpful." The family nodded with Tempest showing particular interest in Oskar now making him blush even more. 'OMG he is crushing on Tempest so HARD right now.' Star thought in glee smiling slightly looking at Marco who smiled back knowingly. Before Star could move on to introduce Alfonzo he stepped up.

"Um, what exactly will we be doing if we can fight?" River and Bonibell looked at each other in concern before Tempest spoke up.

"Well, recently a strange race of beings that we have never heard of arrived in our woodlands and started attacking us without provocation. They are attacking one of our biggest exports, Keebler cookies." Marco, Alfonzo, and Oskar blinked in shock looking at each other as Tempest continued. "They are destroying our storehouses and bakeries devouring all the cookies in the land and anyone one that gets in their way. We have tried to reason with them nearly a dozen times but…" Tempest then stopped for a second hanging his head at what had happened to them before continuing on sighing heavily. "We have the forces to hold them off for the most part, but we need a big win in order to bring these guys down to size and show the people they have nothing to fear. Will you guys help us turn the tide against these creatures?" Tempest looked at them pleadingly with Star and Oskar answering simultaneously.

"Of course we will." Marco nodded agreeing to it with Alfonzo looking nervous at what he had just signed up for unwittingly. River smiled profusely and started thanking them.

"Thank you so much for doing this for us. We of course have a plan in case if you are wondering which I will be leading-" The instant River mentioned he would be leading Bonibell immediately turned on him.

"What!? I thought you said you were going to let someone younger then you lead the defense?" River faced Bonibell stoically as he replied.

"Sugar wings, you know I am the best one to lead considering where the other generals are needed. And besides, I need moments like this to get my blood running." River took a heroic pose with Bonibell face palming as she replied.

"You have been taking too much influence from Moon haven't you?" She sighed and looked back up. "I just worry for you meat muffin." River put out his hand and rubbed his wife's cheek with her folding into his hand somewhat.

"I get that sugar wings I get that." He smiled as she seemed to calm down. "Because of that I'll only let Tempest come along if you agree to it." At that Tempest looked up in shock.

"Dad, I thought you said that was going to be our secret?" River chuckled turning to his son replying in a jolly manner.

"Change of plans my boy. Bonibell is technically the boss around here." Everyone looked at Bonibell who seemed conflicted for a second before nodding to Tempest speaking slowly.

"Go on ahead; you would likely sneak out to join them. I might as well make sure my meat muffin is overseeing you." Tempest cheered with Star and River joining him. Marco stepped up to Bonibell and spoke to her.

"Don't worry, I'll help keep him safe just like I do for Star." She giggled at Marco before replying.

"Thank you boy with the cute mole." She fluttered up and poked him on the mole making Marco blush slightly. "Say, what is your bat like friend good for in combat?" Marco opened his mouth to answer but realized Alfonzo had no combat abilities.

"Well- ummmmmm…"

 **Some of you might have a certain question involving Oskar and Tempest which I will answer in an "unusual" way. Writing a homosexual romance is no different then writing a heterosexual relationship and honestly I'm surprised this hasn't been done more frequently in a "non-mature" setting. I may be giving stuff away, but hey I've given away a lot in the past, this isn't that important a give away.**

 ***hears a soft rumbling that grows in power until I look up to see a hoard of yaoi fan-girl artists running in my direction like the stampede in the Lion King* Excuse me while I run for my life. *runs off screaming like a little girl***


	20. Pixtopia Pt 2

**Spongebob Narrator: One intense chase scene later.**

 ***Pant pant* whew, finally got away from the yaoi fan-girls. Now then, let's finish this episode up already; before I lose steam.**

Floyd screeched soaring through the air with Marco, Star, Alfonzo, Oskar, River, and Tempest on his back taking them to their destination. The sky looked lovely as they passed through it with picturesque clouds passing by in an otherwise Indigo sky that just left most people happy. Unfortunately the mood was being put on hold by the conversation the group was having on Floyd's back.

"So what you are saying is we will be at a stockpile of cookies galore at an area that these things have attacked the most?" Marco asked River who nodded. "When they do attack we set a field of tar we have surrounded the area with on fire catching the highly flammable creatures and killing as many as possible?" River nodded again seemingly pleased with how Marco was taking the news. "After the fire does its job we and a group of adventurers and mercenaries will attack from the inside and some elite forces will attack from the outside?" River and Tempest both nodded. "Well… this is well planned out; but this sounds like a very dangerous idea that could very easily backfire. I like it." Marco smiled getting a laugh out of River and Tempest.

River spoke, "Indeed it is, but it is the best idea we have in trapping those things. They seem to shrug off most trapping devices effortlessly and run once the cookies are gone, so we will need to strike as fast as possible once they are there." Tempest then replied to Marco's quip smiling.

"I like this guy; all we need is some good battle music." He pulled out a flute the River grabbed and gently lowered it with a nervous look on his face before speaking.

"Save it for when we are there my bo… oh wait we're there already. Well wait for when the action starts." Oskar then directed Floyd down to where River pointed out they should land gliding down gracefully. As they landed they set down among a fairly large group of tough looking individuals who acknowledged them with nods and grunts for the most part. As their group got off of Floyd however some people actually got up and came up to them with smiles on their faces. Star's face brightened up and she leapt forward at the group engaging them one by one with hugs catching the trio off guard as Tempest smiled and River laughed speaking up.

"I've got to go see that everyone is prepared; you kids get to know one another." He nodded to the group and took off at a jog while Star turned towards them with a massive grin on her face. She began speaking to the group of individuals in front of her gesturing to the trio.

"Guys, I would like to introduce you to some of my friends on earth. Alfonzo, Oskar, and my bestie Marco." As everyone began saying hi Star turned towards Marco, Alfonzo, and Oskar and began introductions for them. "I'd like to introduce to you guys to Kelly, Tad, Dennis, Alexis, and Rico."

Star pointed first to a brown skinned girl with strangely pink cheeks, frizzy Aquamarine hair going down to her ankles tied back in a ponytail, and wearing a pink and white striped shirt with short black shorts. On her head was a one foot high thing of mostly aquamarine hair with two short brown legs and arms jutting out of it that Star pointed to next. Then Star pointed to a green feathered humanoid bird man with yellow eyes wearing a white sleeveless shirt and slightly torn blue jeans. Next to him was a mostly human like girl with white skin and yellowish green eyes but with green feathers instead of hair and wings that extended from her arms; she was also wearing a slightly ripped up brown t-shirt having the picture of a faded wolf's head on it with roots coming out of it and a pair of black jeans. The last person Star pointed to was a silvery-green skinned humanoid with reddish-black hair, blackish-yellow horns forming a crescent moon shape, and yellow eyes behind sunglasses wearing a studded leather jacket with a grey shirt on underneath and a heavily faded, ripped up, and studded pair of jeans to accompany it. Marco quickly put names to faces knowing that he would mess some up as there were a lot of people he was being introduced to right now. Immediately after Star finished introductions Rico raised his hand and spoke in what sounded like a somewhat fake 1950's accent from the United States.

"Alright, how many of you blokes and geese are here to pay off a mirror bill?" Marco, Alfonzo, Oskar, Star, Kelly, Tad, and Dennis immediately raised their hands with Rico joining them. At this point Tad spoke up.

"That's how pixies get you, with the mirrors. No offense Tempest." Tempest nodded in acknowledgement as everyone nodded and Alexis spoke up putting her arm around Dennis.

"I'm here to insure my cousin doesn't get himself killed; without me he would have been dead a long time ago." Everyone smiled and laughed at this including Dennis who commented.

"She's not wrong you know. And I get the feeling we should put on armor soon if you have it; you're gonna need it for these guys." The group nodded and broke off into smaller groups with Marco starting some warm up stretches. As he did so some of the warriors nearby seemed to realize what he was doing and was going into battle without armor. They gave him nods of passing respect as Alexis came up to him no wearing light chain mail type armor.

"So, your Star's bestie on earth huh?" She smiled at him with Marco nodding before he replied.

"Yeah, she's actually living with me and my family while on earth." Alexis chuckled before continuing.

"So, what's it like having a pretty girl like Star under your roof." Much to her surprise Marco began laughing at the question before answering.

"My family has had plenty of foreign exchange students under out roof, some of whom were pretty girls as well." Marco smiled remembering the long line of kids whose pictures they still had on the family room wall. "I also have a girlfriend back on earth, so I need to finish this fight quickly so I don't miss a date with her." Alexis nodded clapping for Marco slightly.

"Well nice to meet another person Star trusts fellow bestie. I'm Star's bestie on Mewni." Marco looked up in confusion as he replied.

"Um I thought that was Ponyhead." Alexis gave a hearty laugh before she replied.

"Star just tells her that as she gets egotistical and possessive easily; Star's too kind a person in many aspects. Also she is kind of like my soul sister as we are both half breeds." Alexis stood there for a minute watching Marco stretch before speaking again. "So you're going into battle with only a type of robe on, are you a warrior monk of sorts?" Marco finished up the stretching and turned back to Alexis.

"Actually I do use a style made by monks on my world called karate, but I'm not a monk. I actually started this because it just looked and sounded cool." Alexis got a massive grin on her face as she punched him in the arm.

"You are my type of guy Marco, nice to see you've joined Star's circle of friends. She kind of needs as many as possible." Marco nodded a look of sadness passing over his face making Alexis realize he knew how serious things were for Star at times. She smiled and put her arm around his shoulder pulling him in close. "Besides, more friends are always a good thing right?" Marco smiled and nodded as they began hearing raspy flute playing coming from nearby.

Wincing slightly they turned to see Tempest playing his flute in front of Oskar who was pumping his head slightly to the rhythm. As people turned towards them Oskar began playing his keytar to try and accompany Tempest as a duo with the music being predictably not so good; not horrible but not good. As this occurred Floyd got the idea of joining his master in making noise and began making low screeches and beating one of its feet on the ground making a disjointed music display. Around them people were holding their ears, complaining slightly, jibbing that the music makers must be deaf, and a few were even getting up to try and stop the musical trio. But as the music continued it started to improve making everyone stop and listen for a few minutes. It got to slightly annoying, then to passable, then to somewhat nice, then it actually got good; really good. People actually began smiling with a few even dancing to the slightly disjointed but catchy music. Marco and Alexis began smiling and chuckled at the trio of wannabe musicians actually succeeding in making good music.

"So, I'm guessing Tempest is usually not good at music as well huh?" Marco turned to Alexis who chuckled before answering.

"Indeed. He tends to spread music without actually taking into consideration on how good it is. He means well but he doesn't get the message that he needs to improve." Marco smiled but then got somewhat serious as he looked at Alexis prompting her to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Ummm, Tempest wouldn't happen to be interested in guys would he?" He then motioned to Oskar to which Alexis gave a sly grin before replying.

"Tempest tends to play both sides of the field. I get the feeling those two are gonna get along just..." She was interrupted however by a low horn being blown prompting her to stand at attention. "They're here." Marco saw the warriors around him start moving fast and Tempest shush Oskar and Floyd.

Marco went to join Star as she seemed outfitted for battle already with a poll-axe in hand that appeared to be her wand. Marco stood alongside her as he saw Tempest, Alexis, Dennis, and Floyd, with Oskar and Alfonzo on his back, take to the air slowly beginning to circle the battleground. As the remaining forces got ready he saw Kelly come up wearing full plate armor with an exceedingly large amount of swords on her persona. As the shuffling quieted down everyone began to hear a moaning on the wind that carried more like a voice then the actual wind making Marco shudder.

"Courage warriors, courage." Marco looked over to see River talking implying that he wasn't the only one who was afraid. "You are the best warriors in the land; no matter what comes out of those woods you will stand your ground." Marco looked at the woods surrounding the area where they were set up and heard the moaning again, this time with words.

"Cooooookies." Everyone got into fighting stances facing out in all directions from the stockpile. "Coooooookies." Marco was able to tell that now there were multiple of those moaning voices around them. "Coooooookies." As they stood together Marco finally saw his first glimpse of one of those creatures emerge from behind a massive boulder. "COOKIES!" Marco was shocked but for multiple reasons thinking out loud.

"That's cookie monster; a character from a children's story on earth!" Everyone looked at Marco in shock as he continued. "There is no way I could make this up even if I wanted to." Star looked at the figure closely and spoke up as well.

"He's… right!?"

It was indeed cookie monster from Sesame Street with the blue thick fur, the large googly eyes, the four fingered hands, and the black void that was its toothless mouth being unmistakable. Marco felt no happy-go-lucky kindness coming from this creature or the dozens of other 20 foot tall beasts emerging from the woods however. The fur was extra-long and seemed to wave with a life of its own, the mouth gaped even more as a void threatening to swallow everything like a black hole, and its googly eyes were blood shot glaring madness and hunger at the world. With a bellowing scream they all charged as a tide of hungry beasts that Marco was fairly sure would easily overwhelm everyone simply by sheer numbers and size of these creatures. At this point everyone around him began doing various war cries and chants not so much to scare these creatures, they seemed like they knew no fear, but more to give themselves confidence.

"HOLD!" River bellowed out trying to keep everyone in position; of course at this point they had no choice as they were surrounded. The creatures began surging across the field around them with the dozens being revealed to be hundreds as they kept on pouring out.

"Star, I'm concerned." Marco spoke worried looking at Star who responded eagerly.

"Oh this is where the fun begins hoodie boy!" Marco blinked in shock as she had conjured up armor for herself and was staring at the beasts with her yellow battle eyes. Marco thought to himself, 'How is it that she seems to be made of glass at times and out of Steel other times?' He shook his head as River bellowed out again.

"HOLD!" The beasts were running across the field in a mass with a few of them even being trampled underfoot in their eagerness to get the cookies. "HOLD!" The stream from the forest seemed to be going on without letting up making Marco pretty sure that there might be a thousand of these things surrounding them. "HOLD!" Marco got into his fighting stance ready to try and leap at the creatures' eyes as anywhere else he might just bounce off of them. "NOWWWWW!" A horn bellowed as fire arrows streaked out from their position and out of several of the trees surrounding the field setting it on fire instantly. The tar concealed by straw and refuse caught instantly spreading fast as lightning catching all of the creatures ablaze. A cheer erupted from the defenders as many of those creatures shrieked in pain and fell over as the life burned out of them with Marco commenting.

"I'm gonna have nightmares from this aren't I?" He turned to Star and Kelly who nodded smiling slightly at that. "Why is it that all the cool epic stuff gives you nightmares?" Before they could answer some of the cookie monsters emerged from the fire still burning in places shrieking with a mad hunger. "Yup, definitely going to have nightmares now."

As the still burning beasts emerged from the flames several flying warriors struck from the skies unloading death in various forms on them. Alexis and Dennis swooped out of the sky with swords in their talon like feet cutting the backs of necks with beasts being dead before hitting the ground. Tempest seemed to wave his hands and summoned lightning from the sky downing more beasts as they char-grilled to a "well-done" status. Floyd swooped over head with Alfonzo throwing stuff from his back either making the fire bigger in areas or wounding some of the cookie beasts. Marco finally saw where Rico got off to and he was flying in on what could only be described as a dragon-motorcycle hybrid wielding a flaming sword of sorts. He eagerly swooped through the air with his sword cutting down beasts and the dragon cycle type thing breathing fire onto those creatures while nimbly dodging their clumsy grabs.

Marco didn't have time to focus on his friends and the other creatures fighting as one was coming straight for him screeching with a voice eerily similar to cookie monster's. Marco ran at it diving between its legs, dodging its clumsy grab, and leapt onto its partially burned leg shuddering even more at how the flesh crunched in parts. He climbed up the leg and back of it feeling like he was in "Shadow of the Colossus" trying to get to its head with difficulty. The cookie beast he was on was flailing wildly trying to reach him and in the process was swatting at everything around it leaving a trail of destruction. Marco finally got to its head and grabbed onto some hair that was still up there to find that when he pulled it the cookie beast moved with it like how a horse might move with reins. Not even stopping to smile at this Marco moved it around and tried getting it to charge at more of those creatures coming out of the flames in various states of well-being.

Marco held on tight, not even brave enough to open his mouth lest he bite it, as he pushed his beast into combat with three others in very bad shape. As his beast fell on top of the trio collapsing into a pile of flailing figures Marco leapt off rolling as best he could down the pile of cookie beasts landing on his feet but hard enough to make him stagger. As Marco shakily stood up he came face to face with another cookie beast who promptly scooped him up and pulled him towards its mouth. But before Marco could even struggle Alexis came swooping by cutting the creatures neck and catching Marco in mid-flight as best she could.

"Say, could you do that thing with the directing the creature again; you took out more than your fair share already." Marco looked up at her and nodded.

"Just set me down on one that has some hair on the back of its head still." Alexis nodded taking Marco past where Kelly was throwing swords out to bring down a fourth cookie beast as fast as possible.

Alexis threw Marco down on another beast that had just finished swallowing one of the mercenaries with Marco grabbing onto its hair. Instead of directing it though, it seemed to make it mad as it lashed out at random knocking another cookie beast back into the flames and forced some mercenaries back unless if they wanted to be squished. Marco decided to just try irritating it instead of controlling it and pulled backwards as hard as he could making it grab onto the nearest object, another cookie beast, and throw it aside in a fit of rage. This naturally caused that cookie beast to turn on Marco's and a slugging match began with Marco getting off as best he could unless if he wanted to be caught in the crossfire. As he landed Marco hit the ground running trying to find out where he should go next and where was Star right now. As Marco ran through the battle confused and disoriented smoke began flowing in from the surrounding flames making it difficult to see in front of your face.

Tying his karate headband around his nose to keep from inhaling too much smoke Marco pushed forward unintentionally tripping one of the cookie beasts allowing a warrior looking like an eagle to finish it off. Marco began moving towards the central area where the cookies were kept, not knowing where he should be, when another big hand clasped around him lifting upwards. Marco struggled in the furry hand but it was like trying to get out of an Iron maiden as the cookie beast lifted him to its mouth trying to swallow him whole. In panic mode, Marco grabbed upwards as best he could and caught the upper portion of the creature's mouth as it tried stuffing him in. Without teeth to chew, it tried sucking him down but Marco kept a death grip on its upper lip while screaming at the top of his lungs.

"HEEELP! SOMEONE! ANYONE!" As the cookie beast got annoyed with its snack it lifted its hand up to force him down as best as possible, but a sickly green beam of magic struck the beast between the eyes before it could do so. The cookie beast shuffled around nearly making Marco lose his grip on the lip shaking in fear. As he held on he saw Star appear running up it arm to the mouth screaming with her eyes now a red veined yellow.

"LEAVE MARCO ALONE!" She grabbed Marco and threw him out in the process falling into the cookie beast's gullet. Marco hit the ground hard rolling for a little ways with his body shuddering from the impact, but not slowing down as he stood back up.

"Star!" Marco whispered in shock turning back to the creature to see that it was turning to him now still hungry.

Marco looked in horror as it approached him, but it suddenly stopped blinking in confusion. It looked down at its belly with Marco following with them both seeing it ripple like something was pushing on it from the inside. The cookie beast put its hands on its belly trying to push it down as best as possible but the blows only got stronger; until finally the gut was ripped opened by a blast of greenish magic with Star sticking out like the creature from the movie "Alien". Hissing up at the creature, Star crawled up quickly to where its head was and shot magic point blank into its eyes making its head explode in a bluish-green mist out the other side. The cookie beast landed face first with Star doing a backflip landing next to Marco circling him like a guard dog would speaking in a low threatening manner.

"No one hurts Marco, NO ONE!" Star pointed her wand out into the mist and shot another stream of greenish magic causing another cookie beast to fall. She did this again five times with no other cookie beasts seemingly making it through the flames to this part of the battle field. This created a "safe zone" of the battlefield allowing people to move to other parts of the battle to finish off the rest. Star breathed heavily with her horrifying red veined yellow eyes gazing out in a frightened yet predatory fashion that Marco recognized from the football game.

"Star." Marco spoke softly getting her to turn and face him breathing heavily with her teeth bared. "Please come back; your bestie needs you back." Marco slowly reached out and touched Star on the shoulder making her wince slightly but not shoot him. Slowly he pulled Star in for a hug, feeling her PTSD fueled battle rage slowly abate as she clasped him sobbing slightly as she spoke.

"It was going to eat you, I couldn't lose you Marco; I couldn't." They stood like that for a few seconds more until Star pulled back regaining control over herself as Alexis swooped down next to them. She looked at the beaten and battle weary duo a second before speaking.

"I'm pretty sure we've won at this point, you'll want to check in with King River if you want to be sure the phone bill is straightened out. And well done Marco, you had no weapons yet you took out six of those things single handed." She smiled at them before nodding to Star as if acknowledging something before turning and flying off. Marco and Star looked at each other for a second not sure what to do until Marco started chuckling. Star joined by reflexed and the volume increased until they were both laughing out loud with Marco speaking again.

"Did you see how cool you were, shooting out of that creatures gut and then blasting down six of those creatures like a sniper would. You were awesome." Star laughed and responded.

"You used your bare hands to take down six of them huh; you're more badass then I thought." The duo laughed as they trudged towards where a slightly beaten up King River was standing with Alfonzo, Floyd, Tempest, and Oskar around him. As they approached Alfonzo immediately ran towards them grabbing them both into a hug shouting.

"You're alive; I thought no one could survive that nightmare." As they broke up Oskar and Tempest began playing music again with Floyd accompanying them with the slightly disjointed but catchy beat. River stepped up to them smiling broadly before speaking.

"Well it seems like you two did very well as expected of you. I mean you nearly cleared the whole west-western position by yourselves." He grabbed them both in a tight hug making Marco wince at the wounds he did not realize he had. "I'll see to it Star's phone bill is dealt with and that you get compensation as well Marco. Now if you will excuse me I have to see to it that everyone else is paid if they are still alive." With that River turned around walking away leaving their group behind. Marco, Star, and Alfonzo turned to look at Tempest and Oskar playing music and chuckled slightly as Oskar stopped playing speaking to Tempest.

"Say man, you want to hang out some time and, you know make some more music man." Oskar was blushing slightly with Tempest smiling broadly at him pulling out a sheet of paper before speaking to Oskar.

"This is my mirror number man; just call me whenever you're free. For now though, I think I need to get back to mom before she freaks out too much. See you later." He took off flying waving back with Oskar watching him go having a strangely dopey grin on his face. Oskar sighed turning back to his friends who were all looking at him with massive toothy grins and narrowed eyes.

"What, we're just hanging out later." Oskar spoke with the trio raising their eyebrows slightly making Oskar blush. "It's not like that man… at least not yet…" Star squealed a little and leapt forward hugging Oskar as she spoke.

"Go for it Oskar, just go for it." Marco smiled at the exchange until he heard a beeping from his watch. Looking down he saw that it was 4:15 and began panicking.

"Oh my god, the battle took longer than I thought it would; I'M LATE! Where's the scissors, I need to get back NOW!" Marco tried moving towards Star but the bruising he sustained during the battle decided to fully act up now. Marco fell to his knees also feeling a lot more exhausted then he thought he would have, 'Climbing the backs of these creatures really takes it out of you.' He thought to himself as Star came up to him in concern. Marco looked at his dirty karate uniform and his cut up hands from grabbing onto the hair and hung his head in despair sighing sadly. "I'm never going to make it at this point and in this shape and at this time. What do I do?" Star thought for a second coming to a quick solution snapping her fingers.

* * *

Jackie stepped out of the theater looking around for Marco and couldn't see him anywhere. She looked down at her phone again and read his text. _I can't make it to the movie, got caught up helping Star pay a phone bill. Wait for me outside of the theater though and I got something to make up for it._ Jackie looked around sighing again as Chantal and her new barbarian boyfriend, by the name of RuffTuff, came out of the theater as well. Jackie stared out into the evening as the two looked at her for second until Chantal nudged RuffTuff. He nodded with his platinum blond hair and beard flowing and went up next to Jackie.

"Look, I know Marco fairly well after fighting him for so long, and he would not go back on his word unless if it was important. And if he promised anything to make up for it he would." Jackie nodded turning to the duo speaking softly.

"I know, but it's still hard waiting for him and not knowing what he promised me. You guys go on, I'll wait for him here." Chantal and RuffTuff nodded walking away with Jackie smiling at them. 'A one night stand from different dimensions turned into an actual relationship. How does he make a living and go to school these days though?' Jackie pondered this as she heard footsteps running towards her indicating Marco was here. She turned to look with Marco stopping right in front of her gasping for breath for a minute until he could speak.

"Sorry I'm late for the reasons I spoke of earlier. But I have something that I know you will love. Just follow me to the pond in the park." Marco held out his hand with Jackie taking it readily. She followed him for a ways through the park as the light fell until the got to the lake where Star was waiting looking out across the water. As they approached Star turned towards them smiling holding out her wand and speaking.

"Marco has a surprise for you; all you need to do is close your eyes and wait a second." Jackie looked back and forth between the two of them before nodding and closed her eyes. "Sparkle Glitter Shadow Transform!" Jackie felt a light engulf her and a tingling sensation encase her legs changing them into something else. As the magic faded Marco spoke to Jackie still holding her hand.

"Ok, you can look now." Jackie opened her eyes and looked down double taking in shock. From her hip downward she had turned into a turquoise scaled fish.

"Wait… did you just…" Jackie looked up seeing Marco and Star nod smiling. Jackie then began giggling which turned into a happy laughter as she grabbed Marco and Star into a hug. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She then, with a surprising amount of power, did a leap and landed in the pond swimming around. "OMG YES!" Jackie then dived down a little ways into the pond and shoot for the surface breaching it while shouting. "I'M A MERMAID!" She landed in the water gracefully and swam on her back absobing the feeling of have a fish tail with a massive grin on her face. Star smiled at her and turned to see Marco had stripped and was now in a pair of swim trunks. He turned to Star smiling and grabbed her in a hug.

"Thank you Star; that has been a dream of hers for years." Star smiled back and pulled apart from him before speaking.

"Go on and join her then lover boy; she needs the company." Marco smiled and jumped into the pond swimming up to Jackie.

When he reached her Jackie turned around and grabbed him in a hug kissing him outright on the lips with Marco returning it eagerly. Star watched them while smiling and sat down ready to turn Jackie back when they were finished with each other. Star enjoyed the glee the two out in the pond were having swimming around. 'See Marco, everything turned out perfect.' Star thought happily.

 **I have no idea how well this chapter turned out, I kind of had to force myself to think and write for this in central part when I thought I wouldn't have to. No matter, what's the next episode up; better be lighthearted? *Sees Sleep Spells* Woohoo. *Sees what I have planned for it* Doh. Ok maybe I could rearrange the chapters a little bit for some lightheartedness. *Sees Blood Moon Ball is after* ... That'll have to do. Time for one of the most requested episodes people; time to dance beneath the blood moon light.**


	21. Blood Moon Ball Pt 1

**WH: ...and every night by the pale moon light, across the lake he came. He hugged and kissed his pretty little miss under the bamboo tree. And every night by the pa- *gets yanked off stage by a cane* Hey, I was singing here. *looks up to see Omnitraxus Prime.**

 **Omnitraxus Prime: Get in there, you are needed Hippie. *Throws me to the side***

 **SN: And now, back to the show.**

Oskar was out front of the middle school playing music and looking somewhat bored as Floyd groomed himself nearby. As they went about their activities a strange rippling sound came from the handicap parking spot with a devilish looking carriage coming out of the ground. An undead skeletal unicorn neighed in a nightmarish fashion rearing up as the carriage stopped. A strange gong sounded accompanied by a strange unearthly howl as the door opened and Tom stepped out dressed in a suit with a confident smile on his face. As he walked to the school door Floyd wilted slightly and shuffled in close to Oskar who comforted him as best he could before shouting to Tom.

"You do realize you parked in the handicap zone right? Great, people these days." Oskar got up on Floyd's back getting the bird to take off hoping to get far enough away that Floyd would calm down.

Absolute silence pervaded over the school for a few minutes until Tom was flung out of the door through the air on a beam of magic with a shocked look on his face. As he recovered from his fall Star came out with an angry look on her face gritting her teeth slightly.

"No no NO! I am not making the same mistake twice you manipulative jackass." Star picked up Tom again and threw him into the carriage. "Take yourself, your fire, your undead horse, and get back to the underworld right now." The skeletal unicorn at this seemed to blink and turn in confusion.

"Wait, I'm dead?" Star turned and stomped away with Tom reaching out a finger shooting a bit of fire at her throwing her into his lap.

"Come on Starship. It's the Blood Moon Ball; it only happens once every 667 yea-" Before he could finish though Star had flipped out of his arms and hissed at him her eyes going yellow cat-pupiled.

"I am not going anywhere with you Tom and you know it. We broke up, end of story. Now get out of here." Tom stood up brushing himself off taking a serious tone of voice.

"I get it Star and I approached you the wrong way after all that I did to you. But I am a changed man now. I've got a life coach, a happy bunny, and I've been anger free for 53 days now." Tom revealed a badge on his chest showing 53 days anger free. As he did so a figure popped out of the carriage holding a pink fluffy bunny that Star could only assume was the happy bunny. He had green eyes behind glasses, brown hair, was tall and lean, and wore a rainbow colored head bandanna accompanying a blue and silver T-shirt with a green eyed wolf on it and faded jeans.

"I can testify to his behavior, I'm the life coach." Star looked at him in confusion and asked him a question cautiously.

"Who are you and do I know you from somewhere?" He chuckled before replying.

"I go by the title of The Wandering Hippie and I get the familiar reaction a lot for some reason; not sure why though." As Star talked to the rather quite but nice fellow Marco and Jackie came up to the conversation in confusion with Marco turning towards Star.

"Um Star, who is this?" Marco asked in confusion as Tom stood up smiling at the duo.

"I'm Tom, you may have heard of me from Star." As Marco nodded his eyes going narrow in suspicion Tom continued with a serious face. "And she was right at least most of the time. I was a jerk and made her life hard but I have changed now. I was just inviting her to the Blood Moon Ball to show her I'm a changed man and she has nothing to fear of me." At those words Tom put his hand on her shoulder making Star react quickly. With a flash of claws Tom's hand was on the ground and Star was backing away hissing with everyone looking at her in shock. Tom had a blank look on his face for a minute before his eyes turned pure red and he began murmuring prompting the Wandering Hippie to step forward making him walk around in circles talking to him.

"Easy there, walk it out man, she was just defending herself." After a few seconds more of this Jackie handed the WH a conch shell which he, quickly realizing what she meant by this, put it up to Tom's ear. Tom calmed down near instantly with an almost shocked look on his face turning to Jackie speaking softly.

"How did you…" Jackie shrugged to which Tom actually took a few steps back from her before composing himself. "Ahem, thank you and I'm sorry about the threatening move Star." He waved his handless arm and the hand reattached itself with no issues. "Look I get I'm putting a bit of pressure on you so how about we just go as friends for now and I just leave the calling bell for you to decide for yourself if you want to come." He pulled out a little bell and hammer and placed them on the ground in front of Star. "See, no pressure at all and it's nothing official. Now I have to get going and…"

"Why didn't you tell me I was dead?" Everyone turned back to the skeletal unicorn with Tom sighing before continuing.

"… give some therapy to this guy. See you later Star." Tom and the WH got back into the carriage with it sinking into the ground. After a few seconds the only thing left was a few scorch marks and the trio looking at it with varied reactions. Star looked at the bell and hammer in distrust thinking out loud.

"I know what I'm gonna do with these things, get rid…"

"I think you should go." Star looked up in shock to see Jackie smiling at her with Marco looking supportive.

"Wha… do you know who this guy is?!" Star seemed mad in a defensive way but Jackie continued pushing.

"Well you just cut off his hand and he wound up apologizing to you, I'd say whatever state he was in before has mostly passed." Marco smiled and nodded before adding onto the conversation.

"Also how about we accompany you, it'll be the first "formal" date between me and Jackie. I was planning on taking us to _Champagne du le Stomp_ to have a nice evening but this sounds more interesting and cheaper." Jackie looked at Marco in shock for a second and giggled grabbing onto his hand.

"You were gonna do the most expensive restaurant and entertainment hall in Echo Creek for me?" Marco nodded as Jackie continued. "Wow how deep is your pocket man?" Marco shrugged before replying.

"Parents trust me to babysit their kids and paid me outrageous wages. I have a bit saved up." Jackie chuckled as Star butted back into the conversation.

"So you two are coming with me?" They both nodded with both seeming eager to see what the Blood Moon Ball was. "*Sigh* Ok then, but I have a bad feeling this is going to back fire pretty badly."

* * *

"Say Jackie, why did you agree to going with me down to the underworld? I thought that kind of stuff wasn't your style." Marco spoke as Jackie got changed behind a changing stand in Star's room.

"Well I think you are gonna get involved more and more with Star's life considering what little I know so I should get involved to. And what's more I want to actually go out on a formal date with you for a change. Movies and mermaid swims are nice but this is a new category entirely." Marco blinked in confusion as Jackie shuffled around behind the stand. As he was about to speak Star came into the room dressed in her ball gown for the evening speaking to Marco.

"So, how do I look?" Marco looked at the formal black and purple dress Star was wearing with a formal ponytail up on her head. He blushed slightly as Jackie poked her head out from behind the changing area and spoke up.

"Amazing, I wish I could pull that kind of clothing off like you can." Star chuckled and motioned for Jackie retorting back.

"Well come on out and let's see if you actually can." Jackie stepped out wearing an aquamarine dress similar to Star's the Marco began blushing even deeper at.

"You look amazing as well." Marco spoke without thinking making Jackie chuckle.

"Awww, aren't you so sweet." Jackie came over and kissed Marco lightly on the cheek making the blush deepen. "So, aren't you gonna a get changed?" Marco blinked in confusion quickly realizing what she meant.

"Oh right. Give me a second." He leapt up behind the changing area with Star and Jackie chuckling quietly. Jackie turned to Star and spoke softly in a near whisper.

"So, have you gotten a good look at his bod?" Star giggled as she replied.

"Of course I have, we share a bathroom. And I can see why would bring it up he looks nice." Jackie giggled with Marco responding from behind the stand.

"You know I can still hear you right?" They both giggled at him with Marco sighing in annoyance stepping out from behind it. "Ok, what do you think?" They looked at him seeing that he was wearing a black suit with a small sombrero and a Día de Muertos skull mask. "I thought this might work well considering we're going to the underworld." Both the girls nodded with Star lifting up the bell and hitting it with the hammer.

As she did so a deep ring went out with no response for several seconds until a rumbling came from outside. A demonic bat came up carrying what appeared to be mix between an elevator and a carriage up to their position with doors opening in front of Star's balcony.

"Now guys, if anything appears like it's going south let me know and we will get out of there fast, got it?" Star turned to the duo who nodded at Star as they stepped in. "*Sigh* Well, here goes nothing." Star stepped in with them with the doors closing and the bat descending.

* * *

A skeleton was chained up to what appeared to be a dungeon wall seemingly smiling in glee as a hooded executioner raised up a spiked mace ready to strike him. As he was about to do so Tom come up waving his hands speaking quickly.

"Nonononono, he can be on the wall but no torture; we have to keep it a little low key tonight remember." The skeleton shrugged in indifference while the executioner groaned in sadness walking away. "Don't worry; you will get your part in later." Tom turned back facing the WH and reached out to rub the happy rabbit in his hands. "So am I doing well?" Tom looked at him eagerly with WH giving him a shaky hand sign.

"You are doing well in containing your anger but you need to find a way to actually calm it down as it could backfire later on. Just try not to be to forceful with Star tonight and just let things unravel naturally. I don't want you getting disappointed after all." Tom sighed and nodded rubbing the back of his head. As the two were talking there was a ding signaling a carriage arriving with Tom looking up in eager anticipation to be rewarded by the carriage that was bringing Star down to the underworld. "Go and greet your date Tom, I'll be behind you every step of the way." The WH winked at Tom as he went up to the carriage and bowed as the door opened.

"Welcome to the Blood Moon Ba… wait what?" Tom looked up in shock to see Marco and Jackie step out of the carriage. Jackie was wearing a formal aquamarine dress while Marco was wearing a black suit with a small sombrero with a Día de Muertos skull mask making an interesting looking couple. "What are you guys doing here?" Star stepped out from behind them looking beautiful in a black and purple formal dress that seemed to almost match Jackie's before speaking.

"My friends wanted to accompany me to the underworld and take part in the Blood Moon Ball as Jackie and Marco here wanted a formal date to go on. Is that any trouble?" Star raised her eyebrow at Tom as if waiting for him to get mad but the opposite happened. He actually chuckled a little and held out his hand to Jackie and Marco in a friendly fashion as he spoke to them.

"So you two are her friends eh? Well it's nice to see she has company up there. I hope you enjoy the festivities." Jackie and Marco shook his hand pleasantly before moving on with Tom going up to Star. "Now I know this may seem a bit pushy but would you like a spider on your head, it's all the fashion down here?" Tom held up a living head sized black and red spider with a skull on its abdomen. Star twirled around him backing away a little pointing to her hair which was done up in a formal ponytail.

"Sorry but I kind of got my own thing going on Tom, mind if we get going." Star began taking off after her friends with Tom looking on with half hurt half annoyed expression. He reached out and pet the happy bunny relaxing a little but stopped when he realized it wasn't the happy bunny he was petting. Looking down he saw that he was in fact petting the WH's head who was giving him a look of deadpan disbelief before he spoke up.

"Not that I am against this but wouldn't you prefer the bunny over me?" Tom looked at him in a deadpan expression before moving on.

In front of the main ball room there was a photo area where it appeared like people were getting blood dunked on them as a photo was snapped of them. A skeleton was snapping the photo of a couple that looked like the wolfman and a female creature of the black lagoon with blood being poured on them as Jackie and Marco came up.

As they stepped up the skeleton asked them, "Blood or no blood?" Marco gave a murmured "gross" as Jackie asked the skeleton a question.

"What kind of blood is it?"

"Unicorn blood." Jackie shivered at that and shook her head no. "Hpmf, wimps." The skeleton took their picture allowing them to pass. "Next." Tom and Star stood up to have their picture taken. "Blood or no blood?"

"Yes." Tom answered.

"No." Star answered. They looked at each other for a second before Tom spoke up.

"Um Star, this is just unicorn blood; I know you have been coated with worse, mine included." Star shook her head annoyed.

"Only when I'm fighting and not at a formal event; and what's more one of my best friends is floating unicorn." Tom scoffed before replying.

"Not the same unicorn, this was just a mindless beast." Star got annoyed staring at him through narrowed eyes with Tom beginning to fidget slightly as Star spoke.

"I am not bathing in unicorn bloo… what you touching behind your back." Tom came to attention.

"Nothing." He replied quickly with Star looking behind him to see the WH holding a happy rabbit looking up smiling.

He talked fast, "I really like the look of this guy's pants, I don't know why but they were just made for him." The WH got up walking away with both of them looking on in concern.

Tom finally nodded consenting to there being no blood in their photo which the photo taker sighed in annoyance at all the "wimps" that were coming into the ball. Star and Tom came through the entrance to be greeted with Marco and Jackie who were hand in hand looking around at the ball room. It appeared to be finely made if aged quite a bit with white granite and marble having pillars running up to a ceiling nearly 40 feet up. Around the ball room were various decorations that looked like were Halloween occult stuff but seemed grimmer, grittier, and more realistic compared to earth decorations. Various creatures, mostly demons, were socializing at various parts but seemed somewhat subdued compared to what it should have been. It was at this point Star also noticed some people casting Tom nervous glances like he was about to torch them alive at a moment's notice. Star looked at Tom who had on a happy face that seemed to lightly conceal worry even though hawk eyes scoured the room intensely.

"Tom," Star spoke up, "What did you do to this event?" Tom looked at Star hurt and confused as Jackie came to his defense again.

"Chill girl, we haven't been here 10 minutes and you're already throwing accusations at Tom? Perhaps you should have a look around and see what exactly is going on before judging him; and for that matter let's have a look around." Jackie scooted in closer to Marco who smiled, blushing slightly, and moved away with Jackie. Tom smiled after them and turned to Star who was moving away already and spoke up trying to get her attention.

"Hey Star wait up… oh come on are you just ignoring me now?" Tom reached over and pet the happy bunny with the WH looking on in worry at this development.

* * *

Star looked over what seemed to be a fountain of some type of lava looking punch waiting with an eager expression.

"Come on come on, I know you're in there." As she said this a skeletal fish leaped out of the punch and back in with Star giggling slightly. "Nice to see you again Phil." She looked up seeing some sort of skeletal goblin looking at her in confusion. She pointed into the bowl. "That there is Phil, I named him." She smiled with the figure nodding in consent smiling slightly until someone interrupted them.

"Hey, are you Tom's date?" Star looked over to see what appeared to be a short guy with grey hair, a very large bulbous nose, a olive colored suit with a turquoise bowtie, and wearing a green hat that about half of his height with a sign saying "10/S" on it.

"Ummm, I guess so…" The figure cut her off.

"Well I hope your happy because thanks to you everything is boring. Pretty boring people, bubbling punch that doesn't melt your face, background esque decorations, and a silent atmosphere. What is this, a formal underworld royalty get together or a party event?" He turned on the figure with Star pointing at him accusingly. "And I know you feel the same but wouldn't dare speak up because of Tom." Star blinked in concern with suspicion in her voice.

"Wait, what do you mean by…" Tom immediately came in with the two other figures shivering slightly at his approach.

"Oh he's just a little upset because the plans for the party are a little different from normal." He fixed the hat wearing figure with a glare making him hop off. "Everyone can't be happy you know." He turned to Star who had suspicion written all over her face staring at him accusingly. "So um… are you enjoying it at all?" He smiled at Star as best he could with Star's gaze not letting up.

"So far it's been pleasant but I think I need some food and drink right now. Can you point me to…" Tom cut her off laughing slightly.

"Oh I can get you some stuff Star, I know what you like after all." Tom smiled nervously going to a refreshments table with Star's gaze not lightening up one bit.

"Well then why are you constantly coming after me Tom?" Star whispered to herself and made a getaway while his back was turned. She shivered slightly at the cold air wishing that they had used heaters for the room instead of leaving it chill.


	22. Blood Moon Ball Pt 2

**Double or nothing, double or nothing. Two chapters for the price of one. Even I can go fast while still getting it right it seems.**

Marco looked around nervously as Jackie chatted with actual mermaids nearby trying to look like he was cool. He hadn't heard much of Tom from Star as she didn't like talking about it so he wasn't sure how things were going for her, which made him nervous. He had seen her reaction to him and assumed the worst almost instantly but when Tom just continued to apologize his suspicions were questioned to the point where he decided to support Jackie on getting Star to go. He thought maybe Tom had changed as it had been a long time since she and Tom had actually met, that is according to Star. Now that he was in the underworld with people around him he was getting a little nervous at what might happen. As he was caught up in his concerns Jackie came up and put her arm around his waist pulling in close while whispering in his ear.

"You seem to be deep in thought, care to tell me what's on your mind?" Marco shivered a little and turned to see Jackie looking up in concern and sighed slightly.

"Well… I'm not sure now if we made the right decision to convince Star to come down here. I actually suggested we come along not for an actual date but to insure Star was alright." Jackie nodded understanding completely.

"I kind of figured that, you haven't been the most attentive to me." Marco blinked about to answer when Jackie chuckled at him. "I get you're worried about Star but maybe Tom has changed for the better and she should try opening up to him as a friend; fairly certain they won't be more though." Jackie saw her words were not putting him at ease and she detached herself from him giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Perhaps we should go find her then, see if she needs some friendly support. Let's split up." Marco nodded smiling at Jackie.

"You come here with me on a date and you agree to help me find another girl, just shows how much you care about Star too." They both chuckled going their separate ways looking for Star.

* * *

"There you are." Star turned around blinking as Jackie came up to her. "I've been looking for you for a while, everything ok?" Star looked around a little smiling slightly.

"Yes actually, just trying to avoid Tom." Jackie raised her eyebrow at Star whose smile fell slightly. "Look, I know you think I should give him a second chance but that guy is just no…" Jackie held up her hand prompting Star to stop talking.

"I get it Star. I wasn't thinking about you two becoming a couple again I was just hoping you could move on from what he did to you and drop some of that excessive baggage you are hanging onto. The fact that you are avoiding him means that I might have been… no, that I was wrong about you coming here tonight." She put a hand to her own head rubbing it slightly. "God, why is it always so difficult." Star grabbed Jackie's hand getting her attention while smiling.

"Don't worry Jackie, besides he's not actually being as bad as I thought he would be; not much of a statement but still. Although I think it would be best for us to just go, if that's alright with you." Jackie smiled and sighed slightly.

"Ok, go find Marco while I distract Tom as best as possible. I would say I should go for Marco but I'm thinking you don't want to confront Tom right?" Star nodded. "Well, see you later." Star nodded and went off into the crowd shivering slightly. 'Hmm, it is kind of cold down here.' Jackie thought to herself as she went looking for Tom.

It didn't take long for Jackie to find Tom who was at the refreshments stand trying to find the food Star really liked. He seemed to be on the verge of frustration looking for something in particular and not finding it with that counselor guy right next to him holding that cute bunny. Jackie sighed in annoyance at Tom and went up to him putting a conch shell next to his ear calming him down almost instantly with Tom shivering slightly. He looked at her in a strange state of concern taking a few steps back with Jackie giving him an annoyed look.

"You ok now man?" Tom blinked at her tone of voice and got a little bashful.

"Yes actually thank you." It looked like he wanted to get back to looking through the refreshments but had to say something first. "My anger is… not natural by a human's standards; it's actually caused by a bunch of little demonic entities deep inside me. You might call them, the demons "demons" if you will." He gave a nervous laugh with Jackie's mood relaxing somewhat as he continued. "When you put the conch shell to my ear, well so far every single time it feels like some of those demons die clearing up my mind a little permanently. So thank you I guess." Jackie blinked in shock as he continued. "This anger thing has been a problem I have been trying to deal with for a long time and only Star's breakup with me actually convinced me that I needed help. Now that I'm a changed man I wish to try and get back together with Star and help her." When he said that Jackie's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What do you mean by "help her" Tom?" Tom sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, Star has had a rough life in Mewni believe or not despite the fact that she was a princess. When we first became friends I tried protecting her from everyone but there was only so much I could do. When we became a couple however people who wished her harm began avoiding her at all costs lest they got on my bad side. That's what I want to do now, become a thing with Star again so I can keep people from hurting her." Jackie's face and mood did not change in the slightest at this revelation.

"Marco is doing it just fine, and he's not her boyfriend he's mine." Tom got an annoyed look reaching out his hand rubbing the rabbit again.

"Earth is very different from Mewni Jackie, you have to understand that. People have made multiple attempts on her life because of who she is. I'm just trying to keep her safe." Jackie sighed and looked at him with a sad face.

"She has been avoiding you the whole night Tom." Tome stopping petting the rabbit and looked at her in shock as Jackie continued. "I don't know what it is you did to her but she is not gonna forgive you anytime soon at this point. You can protect her from other people but can you protect her from yourself?" Tom just stared at Jackie with anger beginning to creep into his eyes as the WH helped Tom walk it out a little. Tom sighed after the walkout and looked down to the floor before answering.

"Star is one of the greatest things that has happened in my life Jackie, I can't just let her go like that. I need to help her even if it is just as friends." Jackie wanted to be mad at him but the look in his eyes conveyed that he was speaking the truth and did have Star's wellbeing at heart. She went up and put her hand on his shoulder offering him a small degree of comfort and support to which he put his hand over hers sighing slightly. They stood like that for a minute until a voice rang out.

* * *

"It is time for the dance of the blood moon. Every 667 years its light shines down upon us and chooses a pair of souls that will be entwined for all eternity." Marco looked up at a red skinned demon that looked like a judge gesturing to the ceiling.

As Marco watched a grate was being pulled open letting red light spill down upon the ball room floor where everyone began pairing up and dancing. As this was happening Marco finally caught sight of Star who was alone and looking for someone by the looks of things shivering slightly from cold. Marco moved in trying to avoid dancing people and nearly had someone sweep him into a dance which he skirted out of as best as possible. As he closed the distance with Star he began calling out to her in a whisper.

"Star, over here." Star seemed to hear him turning in his direction and moving towards his location. "I'm over her Star, I need to talk to you." Star made her way through the crowd and made it next to Marco speaking softly to him.

"There you are, I was looking for you."

"Well so was I and Jackie."

"Jackie already found me, we agreed we should get going." Marco blinked in shock behind his mask but nodded numbly.

"Yeah, I was beginning to think that too honestly. I was hoping you could unload some of your baggage off but…" Star put her finger over his mask signaling for him to go quite.

"I got the same talk in a sense from Jackie. We can sort things out back home." Marco lifted his mask smiling at Star who smiled back. "Now let's get…"

Before Star could finish however the light of the moon seemed to suddenly focus into a blood red spotlight that focused on Marco and Star. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the duo with Marco's mask falling down so no one could see his face. Everyone gave a collective gasp when they recognized princess Star the half-Monster was dancing with someone under the blood moon light. Star and Marco just stared at each other for a minute before they began dancing almost by instinct. As everyone watched it started out slow like a basic dance anyone could do, but then it started to grow more complicated. Star did a type of ballroom dance while Marco began doing a type of ballet dance to accompany it. It seemed like the two dances would not work with each other at all and everyone was expecting it to stop with the both of them collapsing, but it only got faster and more complicated. Everyone looked on eagerly invested as a line of emotion seemed to spring up between the two dancers and what seemed like a story began to be told. A story of two souls, one in great pain and one that was lost with the one in pain finding comfort and the lost one finding purpose.

Star looked up at Marco through his mask seeing his chocolate brown eyes look at her with a lost feeling in them like he was constantly looking for something. Marco looked down at Star's emerald green eyes seeing great pain, even greater then he had witnessed at Brittany's party or at the football game. Star just wanted to help him find what Marco was searching for and Marco just wanted to help make Star's pain go away. They continued dancing in a strange trance until the light faded away naturally leaving the two standing there coming to their senses as everyone began applauding them. Marco and Star looked around in a daze trying to get a bearing of their surroundings until a whitish red light began burning in one corner of the room. They turned to see what it was and snapped to attention when they saw Tom's eyes had turned an intense whitish-red color as he stared at Marco in particular. The WH immediately came running up to Tom holding up the rabbit but was thrown to the side landing on a fake suit of armor.

"Dammit." He said with the helmet flying off and landed directly on his crotch. After a few seconds of his face turning red he whispered, "Son of a cussing cuss word!" Tom stepped up moving closer to Marco and Star.

"That dance… WAS FOR MEEEE!" Bright white and red tinted flames sprung up all over the ballroom making everyone cower down in fear as Tom approached Marco and Star. Marco glanced over at Star seeing a look of terror on her face as she shakily raised her wand ready to blast Tom. Marco suddenly felt something snap into place inside of his head as he stepped out between her and Tom.

"No… it wasn't." Everyone gaped at Marco with Tom actually stopping on his advancement. "I should have trusted Star when she said we should not have come in the first place. I thought you a changed man Tom from what little I've heard of you, but you're not are you? You think of Star as your property don't you!?" Marco's accusation only seemed to piss off Tom more, a fact the Marco frankly didn't give a rat's ass about.

"THAT'S BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP HER SAFE!" Tom raised his hands and bolts of flame streaked towards Marco who threw Star aside and dodged the flames by a hair.

"Run Star, I'll handle him." Star, in a panicked state, ran as fast as she could with Marco turning back to face Tom. "Star is no one's property and that is no way to treat her. Do you even know what she has been through?!" Tom turned on Marco with even more fury about him.

"DO YOU!?" Marco raised his hand to answer Tom but fell silent as he realized, he didn't know the full extent of Star's pain. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE FOR A HALF-MONSTER LIKE HER IN THE WORLD; FOR A HALF-MONSTER LIKE ME!?" Tom launched another wave of flame in Marco's direction with Marco dodging nimbly. "DO YOU EVEN CARE FOR STAR ENOUGH TO PROTECT STAR LIKE I WOULD!?" Tom launched a series of flaming missiles at Marco who dodged them as best as possible with only a few singe marks.

"Keeping her as property is not the answer Tom!" Marco grabbed a shield thrown to the side by the Wandering Hippie's landing holding it in front of him. "She needs someone there to talk to, to go to when she just needs to cry, and someone who will help give her the courage to face her problems when she needs to!" Marco's arguments seemed to only make Tom even angrier.

"YOU CAN'T PROTECT HER MARCO!" Tom launched flames at Marco which the shield blocked fairly well. "SHE NEEDS SOMEONE STRONG AND WHO IS FEARED TO KEEP EVERYONE AT BAY; IT IS THE ONLY WAY!" Tom launched more flames at Marco.

Marco wanted to retort to Tom but one of his arguments had hit him harder than he had thought. He had come here to help Star overcome some baggage from the past and what was his first move? To run off with his girlfriend so she could talk to some actual mermaids like Star wasn't even there. Did he care enough about Star to protect her like Tom would? He didn't know now, but he was damn well going to try now and he was sure Star was better off without Tom in any circumstance. As Marco came to terms with this Tom sent a blast of flame in Marco's direction that knocked the shield from his grasp sending Marco to the ground. Marco groaned in pain as he had several burn marks on him looking up as Tom came floating up to Marco staring down on him with rage in his eyes. Looking back defiantly Marco did a sitting leap bringing his foot up to kick Tom in the face and did a backwards flip landing in a fighting position speaking again.

"I can protect her and I will! She is my best friend I am NOT going to let anyone hurt her again EVER!" He stared down Tom grimly. "Even you."

Tom looked at Marco with rage in his eyes seeing a type of determination that actually made him hesitate for a second. Marco bore a determination that Tom actually had recognized when he swore to himself in a mirror that he would protect Star no matter what. Tom's gaze caught that Star and Jackie were right behind Marco and saw the look on Star's face which suddenly began to sap the fight out of him. Star was looking at Marco with a type of awe in her eyes that Tom had seen her look at him with once long ago, a sign that she was falling in love with him. Jackie seemed to also catch that look and looked at Tom with the two locking eyes and gave him a look that screamed, 'Do the right thing to protect Star.' The flames slowly died down around the area with Tom floating back down to the floor and his eyes returning to normal blinking in a daze.

"You… win then." Marco blinked in shock that Tom had just given up as did everyone else except for Jackie who gave him a proud smile. "Look Marco, *sigh* I just want to keep Star safe, but… it seems I'm only hurting her and doing nothing more." He put his face into his hands for a minute breathing in and out slowly pulling his face back up. "Please leave, I'll never bother Star, you, or any of her other friends ever again, ok?" Tom looked at Marco with big eyes that looked destroyed, like a soldier who had been fighting for a cause their whole lives only to realize they were the bad guys. As Marco struggled to come up with an answer Star stepped past Marco and up to Tom staring him straight in the face for a second before speaking.

"Tom… we will never be a couple again, that's that. But if you were able to just calm yourself down like that…" She hesitated for a second like what she was about to say was painful. "…maybe you actually have changed for the better. As long as you never try to hit on me again, we "might" be able to be friends. I'm giving you a second chance after all this so don't blow it, got it?" Star stared him straight in the face with Tom nodding silently with a tear coming down his face before answering.

"The fact you just forgave me indicates how good a person you are Star. I don't even think I deserve to be friends with you, but I will try to help you whenever you need me." Tom hung his head and walked away silently with Star turning around and collecting Marco and Jackie.

"Come on, let's go home."

* * *

As the carriage elevator sunk into the ground Star took off her shoes and socks throwing them to the side of her room and laid on her bed. Marco and Jackie stood there looking guilty at what had transpired with Marco stepping up to talk to Star.

"Um… Star?" Star looked at him in concern. "We're really sorry about what happened tonight. We should have trusted you and never convinced you to go to the party." Star laid down on her bed thinking deeply as Jackie spoke up.

"Yeah, I know that Tom is remorseful and wants to help, but we should have listened to you first. I also think I kind of let my desire to see more of your world get to me instead of considering your well-being." Star lay in bed with the two feeling guilty with Star suddenly chuckling and spoke to them.

"Well, tonight was not a total disaster. I know Tom isn't going to trouble me anymore and he might even prove helpful in the future. You two also know to try and trust my judgment and let me figure things out; right?" Star looked at them with both of them nodding. "And what's more, I know now that Marco's ballet classes made it so he could dance beautifully. You should really try that with Jackie some time." Marco smiled blushing slightly as Star reached up and took his hat off putting it on herself.

They both chuckled at each other with Jackie catching the look that went between the two of them sighing sadly. What she had feared might happen between the two of them looked to be in its initial stages though she and Marco had been going out for around four weeks at this point. 'No matter, what would happen would happen; there is nothing I can do to stop it.' Jackie thought as the two began talking simultaneously.

"Hehe, hat hair."

"We just said-"

"- the same thing?"

"Stop that… right now!" They both put their hands in front of their mouths making Jackie laugh getting their attention.

"You know what, I'm heading out now; good night you two." She kissed Marco and gave Star a hug heading out with Marco and Star watching her go. As Jackie left Star turned towards Marco and spoke quickly.

"Now go get me some nachos and a turn on my heater, I'm cold and hungry." Marco nodded turning on Star's bed heater and going down to the kitchen to make nachos.

Star watched him go smiling at the fact that she could rely on him even though he made mistakes. He went after her at the game, he helped her with the phone bill even if it meant nearly missing his date with Jackie, he helped her at a great cost to himself as she went through Mewberty, he brought her home after Brittany's party *THROB*. Star blinked putting her hand over her chest feeling it and wondering why her heart had suddenly done that leaving her light headed. She shook her head and laid back down blinking at the ceiling in confusion.

* * *

As Marco got Star nachos he went over how his life had changed ever since he met Star, a thought that the dance had brought up. He didn't think he had no direction but when he really thought about it what was he doing with his life? He was practicing karate for a dream that was technically dead, trying to be a bad boy when he already had that image to an extent, and just coasting along now that he got Jackie. Honestly Star seemed to have provided him with a type of purpose in a sense, someone to protect and guide. He thought hard for a few more seconds as thoughts swam around his head like fish in a school with Marco finally just shaking them off thinking, 'It'll all come to me eventually.' Marco finished up the nachos and took them back upstairs.

 **Well, now that that's done time for some sleep. *Sees what I have planned for sleep spells* Well, can't avoid it forever I guess. Hope I can actually pull this off without looking pretentious.**


	23. Sleep Spells Pt 1 (nightmares)

***Steps out from behind a red curtain***

 **Ahem, hello people. Now this is normally the part where I start out with a joke but today is different. Personally I don't like that I have been doing so many serious episodes in a row; you need comedy as well as drama to make a good story, the lighter moments to balance out the darker moments. But I am not going to shy away from this particular episode because it means a lot more to me then you might think.**

 **Today's episode will be a send out to everyone who has suffered traumatic experiences in the past and those who suffer from various forms of mental illness, especially post traumatic stress disorder and depression. This is going to be a serious episode that focuses also on how cruel people can be to those that are different from themselves and the help people need at times even though most people won't willingly give them any for various reasons. Now this episode will likely push the boundary of the T rating of this story so you have been warned, nothing sexual though. I will not be holding back in the slightest and that means in parts of this episode I am going to rip MonStar to shreds which is a difficult feat without sounding pretentious, so let me know if I do ANYTHING wrong.**

 **Now, you are all probably wondering why this episode means more to me then you might think. Well... when I got out of college I couldn't find a job and I had few friends as my college mates had split apart due to a bad rift leaving very few that I knew. I had also made some major mistakes in the last two years of college making me believe I had wasted my time and couldn't recover, including losing more then 25,000 dollars to an online scam and nearly assaulting a kid at a summer camp I was working at due to remnantle anger issues.** **I think (now this may be me being a whiny little bitch, take my words with a grain of salt) I suffered from borderline depression due to the sheer hopelessness I was facing at times. That changed however on June 27th of 2017 when I published my first chapter of "A Tale Of Moon And Monsters" giving me a sense of purpose to my life. Within a matter of months I had gotten a full time job that I love even if it may not be permanent, joined with a volunteer fire department, and joined up with a second circle of friends to play role-playing games like D &D. If you want to help people with depression, aside from having them see a professional therapist, my suggestion is not to make them happy but to give them purpose. Find something that gives them fulfillment, be there for them to talk to when they need help, and then they may just heal. **

**If you want to make a good impact on my life all you need to do is just drop a comment on what you think about my story, I read all the comments and from this point on I will respond to every single one if possible, can't do guest comments for some reason. Oh, and anyone saying "Get over it" or think along the lines of "why don't they just cheer up?" you haven't felt depression have you; that empty void inside of you that leaves you feeling numb knowing you should be happy but don't know why. Well, I'm not gonna try and change your minds as you are likely just trolls trying to get a reaction, so whatever.**

 **I hope you enjoy the episode.**

Star woke up from her nightmare too terrified to scream only giving out a pale gasp for air shielding her face from the non-existent threat. Blinking she looked around seeing that it was very dark still and checked the alarm clock Marco had gotten for her with it reading 1:00 am. She began reaching for a box on the night stand and held herself back for a few seconds.

"I don't need it. I don't need it." Star sobbed and shivered violently before finally pulling something that looked like a cigar out of the box and lighting it with her wand inhaling deeply. She had fought off the need to take one of those since the nightmares started but now her anxiety and fear overcame her will power at long last. She let the effects of the smoke calm her down somewhat realizing she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight at this rate. "Why now, why now of all times?" Star asked herself before she began crying.

* * *

Marco woke up yawning and trying to get his bearings stepping out of bed in full length light blue pajama pants and holding onto a light blue pajama long sleeve shirt. He looked at the shirt and rolled his eyes still not sure why he still tried wearing it as he always wound up too hot in his sleep. Slinging it to the side he moved forward only to run into something big, hard, and made of wood. He looked up rubbing his head to come face to face with some sort of demonic Tiki statue that looked furious making him scream like a little girl and scrabble away. Coming fully awake he heard noises coming from outside that sounded like a jungle and saw a few vines creeping in under the door. Creeping over to it he pulled the door open and looked out into the hallway to see more vines all over the place with more of those statues and a few black ravens with blood red eyes staring at him.

"Ooook, this is a weird morning." Marco stepped forward to the stairs leading down to the living room. As he moved downstairs he saw a vast steaming black and grey jungle swamp with strange shrieks and howls emanating from it. "Very weird." As Marco stared out across the jungle Star came up beside him wearing her custom made fuzzy turquoise full body pajamas looking out into the landscape. "Say Star, you wouldn't have happened to make this jungle would you?" Star looked at Marco a bit shocked and shook her head violently before replying.

"Nope, nu uh, no idea what you're talking about. I can clean this up for you though so we can get to breakfast." Star smiled at him with Marco knowing something was off right off the bat.

Star looked exhausted which was EXTREMELY unusual for her as she could go up to three days without sleep before falling into that state. Star also had an air of worry and anxiety around her like a subdued hum a good deal of the time but now it seemed to vibrate like a strong earthquake. Star's eyes were also usually green but now they had a tinge of yellow to them like Star was expecting a fight soon or had just finished one. And to top it all off Star was discreetly rubbing on her tail which indicated something was making her nervous.

Marco spoke up, "You know, if there is something wrong-" Star cut him off quickly.

"Nothing is wrong Marco." Marco raised his eyebrow in suspicion making Star's face fall slightly. "Well… I spent the last few nights playing this new video game I found called "Sid Mires Civilization 4" instead of getting some sleep. I tried sleeping last night but for some reason I couldn't get comfortable and just laid awake all night." She then thwacked herself in the forehead. "Congratulations Star, you played yourself." Marco decided to let it slid for now and chuckled in a good natured fashion at Star.

"Ok, I get that. Just try not to push yourself so far next time." Star smiled and nodded at him the nervous air dying down around her a little. As Star turned and cleared out the swamp-jungle Marco looked on in concern wondering what was going on with her.

* * *

Marco was barely asleep having already thrown off his shirt and kicked off the quilt of his bed to try and get some air. He would have kicked off the sheets but he needed something over him to make him feel comfortable despite the heat it brought. Marco groaned in annoyance coming fully awake to pull off his pants, his parents would have killed him if they found out about that considering Star was in the house, but he was stopped by the sound of magical energy. Getting up in concern Marco opened the door to see magical light flying out under Stars door with some spells getting out swirling across the floor. The green light gave off strange twisted shadows that seemed to warp the spells coming out from Star's room making Marco shudder in worry.

As he moved across the hallway to Star's room to see what was going on some sort of blue colored tiger sized jungle cat leapt out at him from the shadows. Marco reacted and bent backwards into the limbo position as the cat passed over head missing him by a few inches. Marco came to a battle pose turning on the cat to see it had a snake for a tail and its face looked a little like an Oni's for some reason. It leapt at him again with Marco twirling and kicking the side of its head with the impact feeling like he just hit a tree. As Marco staggered the cat stumbled slightly and lashed out with its claws tripping Marco to the ground with the cat attempting to bite him. Thinking fast Marco slid forward under the cat's belly aiming for its groin receiving a much more satisfying feeling from his kick. The cat yowled in pain with Marco wincing in sympathy as the cat leapt vertically and attempted to slam both front paws down on him unsuccessfully. As Marco stood up from his fire escape roll ready to fight again he heard a scream that wasn't blood curdling or bone chilling, but so full of horror and fear that Marco shook to his core. The cat and Marco grabbed onto each other in fear as the scream died down clearly coming from Star's room. The two stood there in fear looking at each other in worry before Marco started towards the door with the cat in tow.

"Star, are you ok?" Marco called out softly with no answer coming. "Star come on, open up." Marco was getting worried now that there was no response and pulled out a bobby pin to pick the lock. However the moment he inserted it he was shocked by magical energy. "Clever girl." Marco whispered to himself before yelling out. "Star, PLEASE RESPOND!" The cat seemed to not like how this was going and leapt at the door caving it in quickly. Marco looked at the cat impressed. "Um thank you." He stepped into the room looking around. "Star, what is goi-" He was stopped cold when he saw Star on her balcony smoking what seemed to be a cigar with her eyes a bleak grey-green color. Marco came over as Star looked up with tears in her eyes and a look of bleak hopelessness on her face. "Star, what is that?" Star closed her eyes sobbing slightly as she walked over to her nightstand.

She pulled out what appeared to be a box that, when she opened it, contained what seemed to be two dozen of those cigars and a note. Star took out the note and handed it to Marco with him reading it and his shocked face growing more intense by the second.

 _To my precious little Monstar,_

 _I know things have been going well for you mostly but with the two recent events at the football game and at that party we got concerned. I know you don't like the idea of these Star but we are following Dr. Montgomery's prescription advice and sending you Duck Nip to help you out. Take one only if you are having a particularly bad day or have a nervous attack but be willing to take it if you need it. I hope you do not need it but better to be prepared. We love you so much and are so proud you have come so far in life our precious little guiding morning MonStar._

 _With love,_

 _Mother_

Marco looked back up with Star staring at the cigar she was holding with a bleak expression on her face tinted with disgust.

"Star, why didn't you tell us you needed medication?" Star hung her head low as she responded in a whisper.

"I was hoping I didn't need it. I was hoping against all hope that I wouldn't need this in order to keep myself going. I was hoping I could just DO it like everyone else can. I was hoping to be able to live normally under my own power." Marco came in hugging Star with the jungle cat hugging them as well with Marco speaking.

"There's no shame in needing medication Star, a few people need this stuff all the time on our world." Before Marco could go on however Star wriggled free of him and pushed both him and the cat away taking a few steps back before sobbing.

"Of course there is shame in this! I don't know what kind of medication you guys need but this stuff is addictive if you don't hold yourself back. Hundreds of people have lost everything trying to get more of this addictive stuff into their bodies all over Mewni. I can't even get through a few nightmares without it now for some reason." Star sobbed silently for a second as Marco tried coming in close again. "I'm going to be a drug junkie before I can legally become queen at this rate." Star took a swig of the cigar before grasping onto Marco and crying into his arms. As they stood there for a minute with Star letting off the stress Marco pulled her face up and looked her in the eyes seeing that they had turned into a pretty but saddening bluish-green color.

"Look Star, that's not going to happen. All we need to do is contact your parents and…" Before he could finish however Star tackled him to the ground pinning him down.

"No Marco, they'll take me away from here and put me back into Therapy. Doctor Montgomery will poke and prod at my memories and suggest a stronger dose of this stuff which my parents will likely agree to. And even if they don't I don't want to trouble them for nothing just because of a couple of nightmares. I can solve this Marco, I need to… stand on my own." Star looked at him with desperation that made Marco pity her, but he saw no other way to fix this. Unless…

"Star, what if I was you psychiatrist. I could help you find a solution to these nightmares." Star blinked in what appeared to be hope as she stood up rubbing her tail while looking at the floor.

"You… can do that?" Marco smiled at her before he replied.

"Of course I can, watch." Marco began twirling in a circle as Star and the cat watched. "Book, glasses, sweater vest, notebook; Dr. Marco PHD." Marco came to a stop wearing a white button up shirt, glasses, brown pants, and a red sweater vest while holding a note pad, pencil, and a book saying "Psychology for dummies". Star and the jungle cat applauded slightly at this with Marco striking a pose.

Star asked, "What does PHD stand for?" As Marco was about to answer Angie came up to the door.

"Pretty handsome dude." Marco blushed slightly looking at his mom annoyed as she looked around in concern. "I must say, what is going…" She then saw the cigar in Star's hand with her eyes narrowing and her voice growing hostile. "Star, what is that?" Marco held up the note to his mom talking to her.

"It seems this is a type of medication for Star. She's been having nightmares and I am going to see if I can help before contacting her parents." Angie read it and her hostility turned into sympathy as she went over and hugged Star closely before speaking.

"Oh Star, you don't need to hide this stuff from us. In fact it's more of a problem if you do hide it from us as we might assume it was… something else." Ange pulled back rubbing Star on her head before walking off. "I'm going to back to bed, good night you two." Angie closed the door behind her while the jungle cat turned the lights on with a flick of his tail as Marco started talking.

"Alright Star, I am going to delve into your mind and find the source of these nightmares so you don't need that stuff at all. Now I can only bring the truth out and offer advice, you are going to need to overcome it yourself in the end, got it?" Star nodded looking at him with eager hope on her face. Marco knew she would rely on him for more than that but her self-worth seemed a little shaky at the moment so he decided to make her effort seem like it mattered more than it did. "Now if you will take a seat so generously provided by our feline friend… wait why am I not allergic to this guy, I'm allergic to cats?" Marco gestured at the cat who was pulling up a therapist sofa it had gotten… somewhere.

"Well, he's not an earth house cat so maybe that's what plays into it?" Star smiled at him before laying down on the sofa looking at him. Marco sighed and pulled up a random chair in Star's room sitting down on it before addressing her.

"Ok Star, when did these nightmares start? " Star laid back looking up to the ceiling as she talked slowly.

"This is the fifth night of their occurrence and they seem to be getting stronger. I don't remember what exactly happened in them but I can tell that it is the same dream over and over again. What do you make of that?" Marco tapped the pencil against his chin in thought for a moment before responding.

"It seems your subconscious is trying to tell you something. Recurring dreams only occur when a message is trying to be sent out to you but you're not getting it. Do you happen to have any memories of this dream at all?" Marco looked at Star as she tried remembering shuddering slightly.

"Well… I remember a great building that something bad happened in, a land without color, shadows *shudders* writhing all around me mocking and jabbing at me, and a song… a horrifying song of running." Marco wanted to interject but Star seemed to be on a roll now. "So I run and run and run and run but something always catches me and…" She shuddered curling up into a ball before whispering. "… kills me." She shuddered looking up at Marco. "I try to fight it every single time but I can't… I just can't." She bowed her head shuddering slightly before Marco spoke again.

"Hmmmm, let me see what my dream translator has to say about this." Marco opened his book and looked through it for a minute until he found the page he wanted to find and read over it. When he was done he looked up with Star fidgeting nervously as she watched him do his thing. "From what I can tell, you suffered some great traumatic stress in the past that is even now sucking the life out of you. Trying to run away from it isn't going to work like it did in the dream as that will only make things worse." Star nodded understanding what he meant. "I get you are scared Star, but you need to confront these events once again in order for me to help you do anything. So I am going to need you to tell me about any traumatic events you remember from the past; excluding the *ahem* lynching incident, I already know about that." Star nodded shivering slightly before responding.

"I'm sorry Marco but... it's just not the things I like to remember." Marco held out another one of the cigars towards Star who looked at him in shock as he nodded to her.

"I know you don't like them Star, but it will help you keep a cool head through this. Once we are done, I can help you come back together." Star looked at Marco nodding as she took the second one and used the first one she still had to light it. As she finished off the first one she stared at the ceiling in contemplation before beginning.

"Well you know of the first one already, so let's move onto the second one…"


	24. Sleep Spells Pt 2 (memories)

**Please note these are not all of Star's traumatic memories, only the most impactful.**

Star was eating dinner with a voracity only a 7 year old could have of her make up with Moon and Toffee smiling at her eagerness. They had taught her proper manners but when they were eating alone they allowed her to eat as she wished. However in her eagerness something began to happen as Star stopped eating and held her stomach in pain.

"Ughhhh, I don't feel so good." Moon and Toffee laughed at first until Star fell off to the side prompting them to rush towards her to figure out what was wrong. Toffee took one look at the situation and ordered Butler to check on the kitchens to see if anything had happened to the food turning to Moon next.

"Moon, test the food for any poisons." Moon nodded and used her wand on the food detecting something off about the food, but at a low near undetectable amount. Moon blinked in shock turning back to Toffee.

"But how is it that Star is in trouble and we are not, all the food seems pois…" They blinked in realization before speaking at the same time.

"Quantity!" Butler came back speaking to them.

"Nothing wrong in the kitchens but I am having people scour the castle for anything amiss. Anything you can contribute to help the search." Moon and Toffee kneeled down over Star trying to help soothe the pain away as Toffee responded.

"What poison could kill someone in a quantity Star would eat but no in the amount we would eat?" Butler blinked in shock as Toffee elaborated. "All the food was poisoned and somehow slipped by our poisons detectors." Butler nodded coming up with a short list which he directed people to look for.

Eventually they found it; sweet pine sap had been subsisted being indistinguishable from corn syrup which, while not poisonous in small amounts, would kill if ingested in a high amount. It also did not show up on normal poison detectors as it usually was ineffective as it acted slow, but once it was in the system was very difficult to get out. Immediately Star was put on antitoxins and Moon used her magic for hours on end trying to get all of it out of Star's system with initial vomiting helping out immensely. After nearly six hours to treatment they finally got it all out of Star and did a sweep of the kitchen staff finding one of them had disappeared in the confusion. It took nearly two days for Moon and Toffee to convince Star that the food was safe to eat, and only when Moon and Toffee themselves cooked it.

* * *

Star skipped through the woods softly humming to herself as she approached the circle of love. A boy she had confessed a crush to had asked her to come out to this section of the woods so that they might try to kiss without people mocking them. Star smiled as a 7 ½ year old is wont to do and arrived in the clearing that seemed picturesque except for the mud puddle, though Star liked mud at times to roll around in. The boy was standing in front of said puddle holding a bushel of freshly picked flowers smiling. He gestured for Star to come closer which she did so taking the offered flowers smelling them sweetly and looked at him smiling.

"So you actually like me back?" The boy nodded smiling at her before responding.

"Yeah, but my parents wouldn't allow me to be with you, so I brought you out here. So do you wanna…" He looked at her in a seemingly bashful manner that made Star come close puckering her lips up to him. She heard a giggling come from all around her before she felt herself be thrown into the mud puddle as the boy laughed at her before speaking. "… take a mud bath you mud blood?" Star looked up to see the boy laughing at her as several other royal children emerge from around the clearing laughing at her.

"You know it suits her being in there."

"Ugly and muddy, the perfect combo."

"Roll around like a pig Monster you are." The boy himself stepped forward looking her now tear filled eyes.

"Who would like a horrible freak of nature like you? You look ugly with that deathly grey skin and horrifying tail of yours." The kids laughed and walked off after a little while leaving Star to cry in the mud puddle her cloths ruined along with her confidence.

* * *

An 8 ½ year old Star came down the stairs to the cellars of castle Rose to where a group of six girls were gathered around in a circle giggling. In the dead of night Star was going to be initiated into a club of friends, her first club know as the garden sisters. When they noticed Star one of them called out to her.

"Are you ready girl?" Star smiled nodding her head as she replied.

"I was born ready." Star came down to their group with all the lights being put out one by one until darkness covered the room. A bullseye lantern was opened right in front of Star's face making her wince, but she put up with it as that was the initiation with one of the girls speaking.

"So Star, do you agree to uphold the sacred code of the garden sisters. To play hard and rely on each other for anything?" Star nodded speaking up.

"I do garden master."

"Even though you're a half Monster?" Star immediately got nervous shaking slightly as she responded bravely.

"Yes." The girl spoke again.

"Then let the initiation begin." Two girls immediately grabbed Star and put a muzzle over her head tightening down and pushed her into a cage that one had brought up. "Stay in there all night and tell no one of what happened, and we will trust you." The other girls giggled with Star chuckling along nervously holding onto her tail in worry. As they left the cellar they closed the door behind them making Star realize just how cold it was in the basement making her shiver and sneeze.

The next morning no one had come down to find Star and her parents were worried. Asking around they sensed the girls were hiding something and asked the lord of the manor if the girls had any secret places they gathered in as Star may have fallen asleep and the girls were not willing to tell them. He chuckled and directed them to the basement where they found Star wearing a muzzle, in a cage, and just barely alive due to the cold damp. As Moon warmed Star up upstairs after getting the muzzle off Toffee faced down the group of girls with a cold stare that made them shrivel. He spoke with a cold monotone voice that he used when great pain might occur to someone soon.

"Why exactly did you lock up my daughter down there? And speak the truth; I am in a very bad mood right now." The girls shivered until one broke and spoke.

"We were initiating her into the garden sisters and left her downstairs. But we wouldn't' have let her in be…" She was cut off by their "leader" who shushed her, but a cold glare from Toffee made her back down. "… be-because she's a half-blood sir, we would never be able to trust her." He fixed them all with a cold stare and spoke slowly.

"You do realize that because of her cold-blood she could have died down there right?" They all looked ashamed except for their leader who still tried looking defiant. "Next time, if you don't want someone to join you, just say no." He then turned to Lord Rose. "Next time you allow something like this to happen, you won't be getting off with just a warning. Got it?" Lord Rose nodded in fear as Toffee turned around. "For now discipline your children as you see fit, make sure this doesn't happen again."

* * *

"Star come on out of the bathroom, you've been in there for two hours." Toffee looked at Moon as he spoke with Moon getting nervous as well. He sighed and spoke again, "Star, you had better be decent." And kicked down the door with a scream of "NO" coming from in the bathroom.

The parents stood there looking in to see Star standing there with some sort of white cream over her body making her skin look like her mother's, except where it had washed off. They also saw her claws had been ripped off with fake nails inserted into those areas. One of her eyes was covered with a blue contact lense covering her now grey-green eye. Her hair had been dyed a blond color but it was coming out in spots showing her silver hair beneath. Her tail was lying on the other side of the room cut off with something crudely taped over the stump of it to keep it from regrowing. She currently had a file in hand and seemed to be trying to file down her teeth as they had burst in. They stared at each other for a solid minute before Star burst into tears falling to the ground as Moon and Toffee came over hugging her.

"*sniff* It's not working. *sniff* The make-up and hair dye is coming out with water, *sniff* and my claws and tail just keep on growing back. *sniff* I lost one of the contact lenses *sniff* and the file is not working in the slightest. *sniff* I just want to be normal." Toffee and Moon hugged Star close with Moon speaking softly and sweetly.

"My dear you are normal for who you are. Don't go and try to be someone else's normal if it means hurting yourself like this. We love you deeply and will never throw you aside like those girls did. Now please promise us you'll never do this again." Star sobbed for a few minutes before nodding her head. "Alright, let's clean you up; you'll be pretty in no time."

* * *

The 9 year old Star looked out over the garden to the star filled sky and sighed content as a 20 something man walked up beside her speaking softly.

"My dear, are you ok out in the cold like this." Star chuckled as it was quite warm right now turning up to him speaking softly.

"No big brother, not tonight at least." She called him that as he was close to her compared to most people; a knight who had sworn service to her alone. He held out a rose to Star which she took pricking herself on the thorns.

"Oh my lady, I am so sorry for hurting you." Star chuckled and held up her hand speaking to him.

"Oh don't worry, I'm a quick healer." Star tried to make it heal but found nothing would happen. "That's odd, usually it…" Star blinked looking up at the man's smile as he pulled out a dagger as her look turned from peace to fear.

"*he he he he he*Yes, it usually does now does it. Of course if you're pricked with the right kind of poison that is temporarily halted now isn't it?" His smile turned carnivorous as Star tried to run but he moved quickly knocking her to the ground and pinning her down with a dagger at her throat. "Say hello to all the monstrosities in hell for me wi…" He then stopped getting a shocked look on his face as fell over to the side with a sword embedded in his own back. Star scrambled away looking up in fear to see Buff Frog standing there chuckling at the knight before speaking.

"He's good, but I'm better." He then turned to Star who ran up to him grabbing on tightly as Buff Frog comforted her. "There there my little munchkin, you are alright now." Buff Frog looked down at her and frowned as he saw something in Star's eyes that made it clear she wasn't fine, paranoia and despair.

* * *

A 10 year old Star was sunning herself in the white box canyon without a care in the world as she watched bugs float about above her head batting at them the way a cat would occasionally. Giggling to herself she looked up and around looking for signs of her parents ready to duck and cover should they appear; she had run off from them to sun herself in a place without anyone around. As she went back to lazing about however she felt the ground start to rumble with rocks clattering and looked up to where it seemed to start from, the box end. As she looked up she saw a heard of large beasts come running down the canyon at full speed in her direction with Star taking a second to realize what kind of danger she was in. Gaping at them for a second Star turned and ran on all fours as fast as she could looking for something to protect her from the herd, anything. The herd however was swiftly catching up to her so she had to choose quickly and by reflex began climbing a dead tree in the canyon taking her about ten feet off the ground. She gripped onto the tree hard thinking she was safe, until the rushing animals began bouncing the tree around like a toy threatening to shake Star off. Star gripped on for dear life thinking to herself 'I'm never going to leave my parents again, I'm never going to leave my parents again, I'm never going to leave my parents…'

"Star!" Star looked up to see Bonibell fluttering right above her and yelled out to her.

"Bonnibell help me!"

"Your parents are on their way hold on!"

"HURRY!" Nearby Moon flew down in her Butterfly form, blue skin with six arms and large indigo moth wings, with Toffee, Willow, River, Buff Frog, and several other figures pulling up alongside her looking down in fear. Bonnibell immediately fluttered up to them pointing to Star.

"There there, on that tree!" Everyone looked up gaping horror as Star struggled to hold on with Moon yelling other.

"Don't worry sweetie, mommie's coming!" As Moon took off however another yell rang out from the other side of the canyon.

"Let the black spears fly, and bring down these abominations! JOHANSEN HO!" javelins, arrows, and other projectile weapons came flying down the canyon forcing Moon to use a magical shield to stop them; keeping her from getting to Star.

The tree Star was on gave a creak and moved like it was being pushed over as the rush of beasts ran by with Star screaming in fear. Toffee's eyes went cat-pupil yellow as he leapt in the rush of creatures and ran with the herd to Star's position on all fours. Everyone else in their group either fired back at the assassins with magic, weapons, or anything they could get their hands on with the remainder fretting over the fact that they could do nothing. Star held on desperately as she felt the tree grow weaker by the second and looked at Moon who was unable to let her guard down enough to even move across the canyon and pick Star up. Star tried calling out to her mother but felt the tree give way falling to her doom, until Toffee caught her in his mouth like a cat would running through the herd holding onto her.

He moved his head allowing Star to cling onto his belly as he used the beasts for cover to avoid projectile fire from the Johnsen's. He was in no permanent danger as he could heal even from the herd trampling him, but Star's healing was weaker and if he stumbled enough to fall no one would be able to save Star. Toffee gritted his teeth in determination taking a beast to the side nearly bowling him over but used the momentum caused by the impact to roll over and right himself. Ducking under a few more legs he finally made it to the edge and started climbing with the Johnsen's' taking notice and shooting at him. Moon did the best she could blocking projectiles from Toffee with everyone else providing cover fire with limited success. After an agonizing two minutes Toffee finally made it up the side of the cliff… just as one of the Johansen spears dislodged a massive boulder right above them. Reacting quickly Moon directed her magic up shattering the boulder as Toffee blocked damage from their daughter but was struck in the side by a javelin making Moon flail and fall into the rushing herd below.

"MOOOOM!" Star ran to the edge of the cliff looking down in fear as Toffee looked down as well calling out.

"MOON!" The fighting came to a standstill as the assassins called out.

"The Monster whore lies DEAD!" Cheering emerged from them while those on Moon's side looked on in horror hoping something more would happen.

As hope wilted away slowly a blue light emerged in the middle of the rushing herd growing in strength making everyone fall silent until it exploded out wards throwing beasts around like rag dolls. Moon emerged from the herd glowing with power and turned towards the opposing Cliffside with fury all over her face. She directed all her energy into sweeping the cliff side with a massive stream of magic, flattening everything before going back to her side collapsing in exhaustion. Everyone clustered around Moon pulling out the javelin and trying to see to the brutal trample she had just been through; but cleared a path as Star grabbed onto her mother sobbing desperately.

"I'll never run off again; please be alright mommy!" Moon held her daughter close rubbing her head for comfort as Toffee came from the other side holding both of them close.

"THIS ISN'T OVER YET MONSTER WHORE!" Everyone looked up to see one last assassin staring down on them with hatred as other fled. "THAT ABOMINATION'S HEAD WILL BE MOUNTED ON A PIKE!" A few streams of magic, most notably from Willow, struck out across the cliff face towards the assassin missing as they ducked down behind rocks.

* * *

Star sat in her bath tub looking at her arm with a sense of numbness around her. Her mother had nearly been killed trying to protect her from people who wanted her dead simply because of what she was. All of her past memories came back into her face like garbage that had been forgotten about and left to rot with time seemingly making things worse. Her knight had tried to kill her, her "friends" in the garden sisters had toyed with her, multiple boys had led her on only to laugh at her, and so many more small memories that she couldn't even distinguish between them at times. She looked down at her arm, her ugly and cold grey arm that belonged on a dumb lizard and not a princess. She felt tears come to her eyes as she remembered how her parents had tried to keep noble children at bay but couldn't seem to do anything at times. She extended her claws and sliced at her arm feeling some pain, but it only made her feel alive. She needed to keep her parents safe, and she might as well save everyone the trouble of doing all this to get to her. She sliced deeper making blood flow, but it stopped as her healing abilities kicked in to stabilize the wound against her will.

"No, stop healing." Star sliced again going in deeper feeling pain race up her arm. "Stop healing." She embedded her claws in feeling the flesh heal around them. "Stop healing!" Star began shredding her arm as best she could hearing movement from outside as people moved around. "STOP HEALING!" The door was burst down revealing Toffee and Moon who saw Star in a tub filling up with her own blood as she shredded her arm. "STOP HEALING!" Toffee immediately pulled Star out and restrained her as Moon used her magic to stop the bleeding. "NO NO, IT WILL HEAL! I NEED TO KEEP AT IT!" Moon and Toffee pulled Star into a hug which she struggled in until she realized that her parents were crying. As Star calmed down Moon spoke through sobs.

"I'm sorry Star, we have failed you." Her parents sobbed for a minute before Toffee spoke through his own sobs.

"We were supposed to protect you from the world; and we failed you." Star quieted down and let them hug her crying out their own anguish as Star cried out hers.

 **You want to know if you're writing a good sad story? You begin crying as you are writing and editing your piece. I'm sorry MonStar, but I had to do this. :'(**


	25. Sleep Spells Pt 3 (shadows)

**Do you want to know the scariest thing to happen to me as an author, people praising this episode so much that I was getting nervous that I would not end on a high note. I altered bits and pieces for the LONGEST time hoping for it to be perfect until I realized I might be making things worse leading to... well you get the picture. Now I'm posting it before I get even more paranoid about this. Anyways, this is what I have now and I am proud of it.**

 **Before reading, I recommend you watch this for a better concept of what is going on in parts of this chapter. And if you don't want to, I recommend watching it regardless because it is just awesome. Just to be clear, I don't own this.**

 **Woodkid - Run Boy Run (Official HD Video) ( watch?v=lmc21V-zBq0)**

"After all that my parents got a therapist to see if they could help me in any way which he did a really good job of it. He claimed he was effective because I was so young and my mind could still be healed easily. I went into a stable state after that; in fact that incident at the football game was the only one in over three years aside from when I and Tom broke up."

Star breathed in the medication blowing some smoke out feeling spent after recounting those memories and a string of lesser ones that seemed to become one in her mind. She looked up at the ceiling feeling a strange artificial peace brought on by the medication that made her feel clear headed.

"Say Marco, why would all this stuff suddenly come up at me again after all these years. I mean wouldn't it make sense if say it occurred after the breakdown at Brittany's party?" She waited for Marco to speak but heard nothing. "You have any thoughts on…" She turned to look at Marco but stopped at the sight of Marco.

He had long since dropped his book and notepad and was just staring at Star with a look of sad horror on his face as he absorbed her words. Tears were flowing down freely from both eyes though not a sound came from his mouth as he just let the words and thoughts flow through him. Star blinked in concern sitting up as Marco leapt across the distance between them and started crying holding onto her tightly with Star, strangely enough, having to comfort him as he began blubbering.

"I'm sorry Star, I know this is unprofessional but NO ONE deserves what you had to go through!" Star comforted Marco feeling lighter and more relaxed knowing that Marco was here for her and the mere thought of Star once being in pain upset him so greatly. "I swore at the ball I would never let anything hurt my bestie again, that's what I'm going to do. *Sob* no matter what." Star smiled with a tear running down her face as she held him close feeling his warmth and snuggling in closer to him. After a few minutes of this Marco finally broke off the hug and sat back down in his chair trying to compose himself. "Well… *ahem* I can't directly figure out why the memories would all strike at you all at once causing you to have nightmares and spell in your sleep. That's a real mystery. If only I could look directly into your dream; that may provide more answers." As Marco spoke they heard a whine from the jungle cat who was pushing up Star's spell book turned to a certain spell.

They both looked down to see a spell known as "Dream Gleaning". They read the outline of the spell and it seemed to indicate that a person could use it to take a look into a person's mind while they are asleep and view their dreams. They could also use it on themselves allowing another person to take a look into their dreams. There was even a stanza saying that if done correctly, a person might even be able to influence the dream. They both looked up at each other with Star speaking the thought on both their minds.

"That is one smart kitty right there." The cat looked very proud of itself as it washed its face and head. "Alright Marco, I think the plan is I'm going to go back to sleep, hopefully, and you will watch to see if you can get any ideas of what is causing it through the dream. Is that a good plan?" Marco smiled and nodded.

"Honestly there is no real plan right now, but that is the best idea we have without contacting your parents. Let's see if we can set it up. Oh and Star, if it looks to be going to badly I'll wake you up immediately, got that?" Star nodded smiling as she was not feeling up to going back into the nightmare but knew their options were limited.

After a few minutes of setting it up Star used the spell on herself allowing a strange silver mirror to emerge above her head. While she did that Marco got her some warm milk to help her fall asleep, which she drank with a surprised eagerness. She looked up at him with a milk mustache smile and spoke to him.

"I never knew milk could be this good, can I have some more?" Marco smiled and chuckled as he got her some more.

When he got back Star was nearly asleep at that point so he put the milk on the counter and watched her as she fell asleep. Marco smiled and looked to see the jungle cat was lapping at the warm milk making him feel relaxed until it looked up and growled at seemingly nothing. It was then he realized that something was up as the shadows in the room seemed to be deeper then they should have been. As Marco stood up and looked around the shadows coalesced and formed into three figures that took the shape of knights in full plate armor colored a strange grey glass like color. Marco got into a fighting stance facing off against them but stopped when he saw them get on knees and bowed to him planting swords into the floor with one of them speaking in a hollow echoing voice.

"Do not fret guide and guardian; we are not your enemy." Marco blinked in confusion looking around not moving from his fighting stance as he spoke to them.

"Ummm, who and what exactly are you guys?" The three looked at him, at least he assumed so given how their helmets turned, and a different one began speaking.

"We are strictly speaking shadow entities; once we were minions of a group known as the Shadow Clause which controlled Mewni in an Iron grip with the Queens as nothing more than puppets. Created by the entity known as Sylvania to spy on the people of Mewni and act as a knife in the dark if need be. That is until Queen Moon defeated Sylvania in The War of Moonlight Shadow destroying her for good and freed what remained of us. While most of what remained fled from the Queen, some becoming her enemies, we three pledged our services to Queen Moon the Undaunted in gratitude for her freeing us. We are Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod; the shadow knights of Queen Moon." Marco blinked and fell out of his fighting stance.

"So wait, you guys serve Queen Moon?" They all nodded as Marco let the thought roll in his head for a minute. "So then why are you guys here?" Marco thought the third one responded to him but he could not tell the difference between them.

"We were instructed by Our Liege to hunt down rouge shadows that threaten the Kingdom of Mewni and our trail of a particular pair of shadows has led us here. We overheard the conversation you and the princess had and we believe that it may be influencing her dreams; for what purpose we do not know." As they spoke the mirror fluctuated to life with all five individuals looking at the mirror.

* * *

Star blinked looking around in confusion at the grey tinted land all around her trying to figure out where she was. She saw trees, boulders, and small fields of grass all around her in various shades of grey like a Vampyre had sucked out all the color for some reason. Star made a 360 and her eyes landed on a large white building that had a clock tower in it looking somewhat like a mix between a cathedral and a palace that looked familiar. As she looked at it for a little while she heard a strange *dong* noise that made her fully recognize it and she began backing away from it in fear and panic whispering to herself.

"No… no. Please no... not this... why now?" The dong noise happened again with Star looking around in terror and shaking in fear before turning and leaping on all fours running as fast as she could. To her horror, a voice started to sing.

 _"Run girl run; this world is not made for you! Run girl run; they're trying to catch you!"_

Star looked around seeing the woods go by quickly as she moved as fast as she could, knowing all too well it would not be enough.

 _"Run girl run; running is a victory! Run girl run; beauty lays behind the hills!"_

Star looked up to see a skeleton like figure made of blackened bone playing some sort of xylophone that was made out of bones and sounded like skeletal hands clapping. Shivering in fear Star kept on pushing as fast as she could trying desperately to get away as figures began emerging from around her pursuing her.

 _"Run girl run; the sun will be guiding you! Run girl run; they're dying to stop you!"_

Strange shadowy creatures with bright red eyes nagged at her sides easily keeping pace with her like they were toying with her; which they were.

 _"Run girl run; this race is a prophecy! Run girl run; break out from society!"_

One of the shadows slipped under her tripping her so she fell on her face with another hitting her side making her flip onto her back. Star stared up in horror as figures that were all too familiar emerged around her with the most prominent being an old man wearing peasant's garb holding a pitchfork with a look of disgust on his eyes.

"No… please… I didn't do anything to you." The man spat in disgust as the other figures laughed and cackled at her.

"Claims she did nothing has she."

"Did no wrong, gets no punishment."

"Begs and whines whenever we get to her."

"Like we are some evil creatures."

"But committed the greatest crime this girl has."

"A horrific atrocity."

"Yes yes, the greatest of them all." The man raised his pitchfork staring her in the eyes before speaking one word.

"Existing." And brought his pitchfork down to her eyes.

* * *

Marco saw Star running from the strange building and knew he had to wake her up as this was no longer needed and would only scare Star unnecessarily, but something stopped him. As if by instinct he got up and walked over to the comb, the comb he recognized but wasn't sure why, picked it up and began brushing her hair. The four other figures looked at each other in concern as the shadow Blinkin began speaking.

"What is that boy doing, what good is a comb going to…" But was silenced as the cat hissed at him and pointed with its tail at the mirror as they watched something happen.

* * *

As the pitch fork was about to make contact a grey mist like figure swept by shattering the red eyed man who led the mob against her when she was five. As that happened the music seemed to change tone.

 _Tomorrow is another day_ , _and you won't have to hide away._

The figure took shape appearing to look like Marco except his colors were muted with grey tones with blazing green eyes.

 _You'll be a Queen, girl!_

He reached down picking up Star and set her upright with Star standing shakily.

 _But for now it's time to run, it's time to run!_

Marco then gestured with his hand as if signaling for more people to come. Star looked back to see more strange grey figures with blazing green eyes moving out of the woods towards Stars position attacking the figures whom Star recognized while taking shape themselves. She saw one take the shape of Moon who shattered the leader of the assassins in the canyon, Toffee took form and shattered Lord Rose and his daughters, Buff Frog took form and shattered her "knight" that tried to kill her, and many more. She saw Ponyhead, Kelly, Janna, Alfonzo, Ferguson, Oskar, Rico, Alexis, Tempest, Dennis, River, Bonibell, and many more emerge to fight the figures around her.

 _Run girl run, this ride is a journey to. Run girl run, the secret inside of you._

One of the figures threw Star her wand and gestured for her to run with them which Star began to do so.

 _Run girl run, this race is a prophecy. Run girl run, and disappear in the trees._

Several more figures surrounded her and began putting armor on her as the others fought off the shadowy figures trying to get at Star. As they finished Star began running on ahead of them smiling now in eagerness leaping on a rock and leaping upwards from it. As she leapt she saw she leapt far higher than she should have soaring more than 50 feet into the air looking down at the sea of figures that looked like it would overwhelm the figures on her side. She raised her wand and shot… something out of it that cleared out the evil shadows and was almost floating down now.

 _Tomorrow is another day, and you won't have to hide away,_

She landed gracefully looking around to see a few evil figures whom she smacked out of the way.

 _You'll be a queen, girl! But for now it's time to run, it's time to run!_

She raised her wand and waved it to rally the figures on her side and push forward.

 _Tomorrow is another day, and when the night fades away,_

The figures followed closely behind Star with Marco and her parent's right beside her as they charged forward, Star nearly crying with joy as they pushed forward.

 _You'll be a queen, girl! But for now it's time to run, it's time to run!_

* * *

Marco watched the performance in the dream with a shocked look on his face and looked down at the comb in his hand in shock.

"I… did that?" Marco blinked in shock looking at the shadow knights and cat with all of them shrugging in confusion.

"Yes, you did." All five of them looked up to see two black stains appear on the wall and detach themselves forming into strange blobs. "This is a rather interesting development to say the least." Marco blinked as he put clues together in his mind and came to a conclusion.

"Wait… did you do this to Star?" The things chuckled as they formed into some sort of 10 foot jelly like humanoids looking down on the five and the sleeping girl. If it weren't for the large room Star had they would have easily damaged the house.

"Of course we did, and what's more it was easy. Most people take weeks to break but your friend nearly broke after only a few days thanks to her past pain. A pity that you are helping to resolve it throwing the plans off balance, but when one door closes another opens." They moved forward with the shadow knights blocking them off speaking in unison.

"You will not even think of hurting the princess, let alone touch her!" The cat growled and joined them with Marco taking a fighting stance next to them. The shadows just laughed at them and one waved its fist in a wide swing sending them all flying across the room before speaking.

"What are you all going to do? In the day one of you knights would have defeated both of us alone but at night one of us can best all three of you. The cat does nothing but tickle my master's fancy for an exotic pet. And you boy, you are nothing; just a peasant guide for a princess." Marco looked up in confusion at what he had just said speaking back.

"You have master?" The shadows chuckled at Marco sending out a line of shadow to wrap around his leg lifting him off the ground swinging him casually in the air.

"Yes, Mavis Butterfly the true queen of Mewni. She told us to wait in hiding in order to avoid the shadow knights but brought us out to weaken Star. Once her mind was broken Mavis would have swooped in and took it without a fight. Of course you had to go and use your magical comb to break the spell we put over her so a change in plans is needed." It flung Marco to the side. "She is beating our spell and is probably even aware of what is going on around her at this point, but she is unable to wake until she is done leaving her in a vulnerable state. We'll just take the wand ourselfs and kill Star while she is in her vulnerable state and be done with it." One of them reached down to Star with Marco leaping back up going to cut at its hand but passed right through it like it was jelly.

Marco looked up in shock as the shadow knights charged forward trying to cut at to shadows with their swords and finding no purchase. Chuckling with amusement the shadows swatted them away like toys with one of them landing next to Marco. He knealt down beside it and spoke to it trying to get it up.

"Is there anything we can do to fight it?" It shook its head no as it stood up.

"Only a magic comparable to the Butterfly wand can really strike at it, and we can't get it from Star in this state. If there were a recognized knight of Mewni here us three could fuse with them and then we might stand a chance, but there are no knights here." The cat was thrown over their heads comedicly screeching in shock as the shadows seemed to be enjoying themselves. Marco then got an idea and stepped between the shadows and Star.

"I'm not recognized as a knight officially, but Toffee claimed my service to Star was worthy of knight hood alone. I am her best friend and neither of us would want it any differently in the long run; but since it is needed for this time if only for now, I. Am. Her. Knight." Marco faced down the shadows who laughed at him.

"What exactly are you going to do boy, a simple declaration won't…" They paused however as the shadow knights began coalescing around Marco forming a suit of silvery glass like full plate armor. "Then again maybe it will make a difference." It spoke in shock which turned into determination. "So the noble knight comes to save the fair princess from the evil spell cast upon her by a foul "witch" eh? Let's go all the way with this then. Can the noble knight slay the ferocious, mighty, and powerful fire breathing dragon?" The shadows stayed the same size but fused with each other taking the form of a stereotypical dragon with two wings and four legs with a long tail and neck, but was completely black with burning red eyes and smoke coming off of it all over.

A two handed great sword formed in Marco's hands that began spitting off blue fire from it making Marco step back in shock for a second. He shook his head to clear all doubts from it and was nuzzled by the jungle cat that gestured to its back. Marco smiled despite everything imagining how cool he would look and leapt onto the cat's back holding his sword aloft staring down the dragon. The dragon reared back and breathed blackish-red flames at Marco who held the sword in front of him with a blue shield forming blocking the flames. As the dragon reared back in confusion the cat charged and leapt at the dragon going for one of its legs which Marco sliced at. The dragon fell back going out of the house through the balcony landing hard on the front yard. Marco waved his sword in the air cheering as the cat roared in a challenge leaping down to the front yard to continue the fight.

The cut and fall seemed to have only made the dragon mad however as it reared back again and shot more flames at them in a more concentrated stream. Instead of blocking them they leapt out of the way with Marco waving his sword to almost taunt the dragon. Hissing in annoyance it charged at them swinging its tail around with the cat leaping over it and Marco leaping off of it and down to impale the tail with his sword into the ground. However the sword was so sharp that instead of pinning it he just cut off the end entirely making black blood spurt out with the dragon screaming in pain. It looked at Marco with real anger in its eyes now and swatted at him with its clawed paw forcing Marco to duck and roll out of the way. He then did a long thrust hitting the dragon's leg not doing much damage but forcing the dragon to back off a few steps as it tried circling him. Marco took the initiative and charged the dragon with the dragon smiling and swatting at him again almost playfully knocking Marco back a few steps. The dragon gave him no time to rest and shot some more flame at him with the cat knocking him out of the way just in time.

'Wow, how are we doing so well? I am not that skilled in this style.' Marco thought to himself and actually got an answer.

'Well you may not know all of the skills, but we can give them to you for a short period of time. Be warned, it will cost you once this is over.' Marco shook his head to clear it again after hearing one of the shadow knights literately speak in his head before replying.

'It doesn't matter; we all die at this point if we don't win.' Marco thought turning back to the dragon who looked at him in annoyance again as it reared back its head as if making to breathe fire.

Marco got ready to duck and roll but it was a bluff as it swung its shorter tail around again at Marco knocking him to the ground. It struck with one of its paws going to crush him but pulled back at the last second as it had to deal with something else. Marco stood back up looking to see the jungle cat had leapt onto the dragon's face and had scratched out one eye already. As it went for the other though the dragon swatted it off its face and grabbed it in its mouth crushing it and flinging it to the side with the magic it was made out of trickling out onto the ground. Growling in anger Marco charged forward and stabbed the dragon in the side close to where the heart was making the dragon roar in pain swatting Marco aside. Marco landed on his feet to watch the dragon try to pull the sword out of its body with Marco noticing that the sword burned the dragon when impaled. Smiling with an idea forming in his head, Marco charged forward and did a flying kick pushing the sword deeper into the dragon. Screaming in agony the dragon grabbed Marco in its mouth shaking him like a rag doll and attempting to crush him, however the armor held firm forcing the dragon to spit him out.

Marco got up shakily, bruised and battered, as the dragon gripped the sword hilt, burning itself in the process, and pulled it out throwing it to the side. It looked now at Marco with a strange mixture of desperation and fury as it blasted more fire at him… only to find the flames barely even got two feet with the dragon holding its side in pain. Marco faced it grimly and charged forward with the dragon attempting to grab him with a paw. As it did so though Marco ducked sliding low and slid underneath the dragon, punching it in its wound for good measure. The dragon staggered slightly as Marco reclaimed the sword and charged at the dragon again. This time however the dragon was ready; it leapt over the head of Marco in one direction and brought its tail up behind Marco smacking him off balance. Reacting Marco slashed his sword cutting off more tail but leaving himself open for the dragon to garb him. As it did so it also grabbed Marco's sword in its teeth, careful not to burn itself, and attempted to wrestle it from his grasp.

Holding on desperately Marco and the dragon played a strange game of tug a war with the sword until the dragon wrenched its head oddly and threw the sword into the sky. However, its grip weakened on Marco momentarily enough for Marco to use the momentum and fly free landing on Star's balcony. Screeching in triumph the dragon leapt up into the sky flapping its wings to gain altitude so it was looking down on Marco. As it made for a dive that was meant to finish Marco off however a voice rang out.

"Golden Lightning Bling!"

A string of magic shot out from Star's wand entrapping the dragon in gigantic golden chains with lightning zapping it heavily forcing it to fall out of the sky impacting the ground hard. As Marco stood back up he saw the sword was flying through the air again, this time in his direction with one of shadow knights pointing it out.

'The sword… is returning?' Marco looked up to see the sword was indeed flying back towards them like something had tossed it.

Running and leaping off of the balcony Marco reached for the sword and would have missed it if Star hadn't pushed some magic behind him to make him fly farther. Marco got to the sword only to have it hit him in the breastplate and nearly be lost due to the impact. Re-positioning it quickly Marco fell through the air as the dragon broke some of the chains to get free but saw that it was too late as its doom fell from above.

"Well… shit." The sword lanced down with Marco behind it impaling the dragon so far through the skull it came out the other side.

Screaming in agony the dragon flailed around and stumbled trying to just make sense of what had just happened. However this was a fatal blow for almost any creature including this fused shadows which slowly sunk to the ground. It finally collapsed with a soft *wuff* of wind and Marco stood up on its head catching his breath and looking around. He looked around in concern to see his parents at the door way and Star up in the balcony, all of them looking at him in shock. Star leapt down from the balcony coming over to where Marco was with Marco stepping down from the dragon leaving the sword embedded in the skull as most of the dragon's body began dissolving into a black mist that was dispelled by the wind. Star grabbed him in a hug and began talking a mile a minute.

"Marco are you ok? Of course you're not, you just went head to head with that thing. I need to get you out of that armor so we can tend to…" Marco caught Star and held her back with Star taking a few deep breaths.

"Easy there Star, I'm alright." Star looked at Marco eye to eye and began crying.

"You keep on doing so many things for me Marco despite it being life threatening, why?" Marco didn't have an answer but one seemed to come naturally to him for some reason.

"For you Star, anything." *Throb* Star looked at Marco with a slow blush growing across her face as her heart did that thing like after the Blood Moon Ball once more. They stared at each other for a few seconds more until Janna and Starfan13 of all people stepped out of the bushes with Janna speaking.

"You're welcome with the sword by the way; man you would have been screwed without it." Marco and Star looked up to see Starfan13 recording the whole thing with her camera speaking quickly.

"OMG it is just like a fairy tale!" Star and Marco blushed again as Marco's parents began talking.

"How sweet, Marco becoming an all-out knight to rescue Star." Raphael spoke with his wife smiling and responding to him.

"Good thing I also recorded the fight, especially that end part." Marco and Star broke their hug blushing profusely with Marco speaking.

"Ok, you guys can separate from me now." The shadow knights detached themselves from Marco leaving him feeling battered and bruised and exhausted as well. "And I'm done." Marco fell forward to have Star catch him as he nearly passed out. The shadow knights formed bowing to Marco as everyone else looked on in shock at them, except Janna who stared at them eagerly.

"Sir Marco the shadow slayer, we thank you for your service." One of the knights spoke as they all came back to a standing position. "You had no training and nothing to lose by letting Star be taken yet you were willing to lay your life down for her. When the time comes if you choose to be a knight for good, know that we will pledge our swords to you once the shadows are dealt with. That is, if the queen will allow it." They then formed into formless shadows and sped off. Everyone watched them go with Marco turning to Star speaking softly.

"Please tell me the curse is gone from you." Star nodded with Marco sighing in relief. "*whew* Ok, can we go back inside so you can get some much needed sleep and I can go to bed and heal from the solid thrashing I just received? And also, what are you two doing at my house?" Janna and Starfan13 smiled with Starfan13 speaking.

"I sensed something was up with Star so I came by tonight to see if I could spy through the window to see if you needed help." Everyone gave her shocked stares. "What, is that not how you find out about your friends problems?" Everyone groaned as Janna interjected.

"I leave some things in your garden shed Marco, last place most people would look for my stuff you know." She smiled as Marco stared both of them down before speaking.

"Go home, both of you." They both shrugged going home as Star picked up Marco carrying him bridal style back into the house.

* * *

The next day after school was a Thursday which meant it was a free evening for both Star and Marco. Good thing too because in addition to all the scrapes and bruises Marco had also suffered from a few pulled muscles and sprained joints; he even had a few cracked ribs. Marco sat on the couch feeling content and looked to the side to see the now bobcat sized blue jungle cat curled up with the remaining three laser puppies that had sprung up from the original group Star had created. After the battle the puppies had gone to the remnants of the cat in curiosity and the cat had "absorbed" some of the puppies into it in order to stabilize itself. Marco was strangely fine with that though as he had always wanted a cat but simply couldn't have it because of allergies; and it was far better then the laser eyed puppies in his opinion. He was happy until he realized Star had not come down from her room yet, which was strange as she usually finished homework fast. Getting up, groaning slightly, Marco trudged up the stairs to Star's room knocking slightly. The door come open with a click revealing Star was on the balcony smoking another one of her medication cigars with a sad look on her face. Marco came up standing next to her with Star looking up at him with grey-green eyes and sighed slightly.

"You don't need to worry about the nightmares Marco, I got through the rest of last night without anything going wrong. But… with everything going on…" Star stared at the medication with a sad look on her face. "… all those memories have come flooding back in like a tidal wave. I... need this... for now." Star took another inhale of it as Marco put his arm around her shoulder holding her close before speaking.

"I know, I know. Honestly I'm surprised you aren't in worse shape considering all that you have been through. You are a lot stronger than you think you are." Star smiled at him with her eyes returning to their normal green shade. "How did you get through all the pain anyways, there had to be something that kept you going aside from the doctor." Star continued to smile looking out across the neighborhood speaking softly.

"My family is amazing Marco, as are the few friends I do have; but it's not them alone that drove me on. It's a memory of sorts, of a little kid who I met long ago wearing a red shirt and had a mark on their cheek. I remember them saying they would one day be as strong as I am and return to be my knight someday. I don't know why, I don't even know if it is a real memory, but that thought has kept me going that someday I'll meet them again. The child who wanted to be just like me when every other kidd looked at me like a zoo attraction." Her eyes had gone a purplish-green as they stared to the horizon with Marco smiling and responding.

"Say, do you want to just take the evening off and curl up under a blanket and watch tv with me while binge eating snacks?" Star looked at him smiling her eyes not changing the color that Marco honestly thought was her most beautiful eye color. "I'll get everything set up…" Star chuckled and punched his arm making Marco wince.

"Of course not, I'll do it. My "noble knight" needs his rest after all." They both chuckled as Star skipped out turning back to look at him. "But you will need to make nachos; I don't know how to make those." Marco chuckled as he followed Star far more slowly down the stairs thinking to himself, 'I hope this becomes a thing, I think Star really needs this.' and started walking wincing as a rib creaked slightly. 'As do I.'

 **I know what you all are thinking, was this just a cheap cop out? Well look at it this way; Mavis is an internet "troll" sending the shadows or "hate messages" to Star destabilizing her. One single bad comment will rarely bring anyone down, but a storm of thousands will bring down even the strongest. As for the comb in the dream and Marco the knight, that was him helping undo the source of the pain so Star could begin recovery as often the victim can't do it alone; plus the image of Marco wearing smokey glass full plate armor wielding a flaming blue sword on the blue jungle cat's back was just awesome.**

 **Also note, Star is not fully fixed at the end of this episode; it's going to take a long road of medication and Marco comforting her before she gets over everything that has happened here.**

 **Well, I sincerely hope I did this the right way. I need a break from the dark stuff, and a "Royal Pain" needs to be taken care of. ;)**

 **Also, the next few episodes will be mostly lighthearted so I am leaving ideas open for one shots. If there is a oneshot you would like to see done I will attempt to do it; eventually. This story is my first priority right now. See you soon.**


	26. Intermission

***The Wandering Hippie, Spongebob Narrator, and Omnitraxus Prime are sitting down playing some sort of card game while chatting.***

 **SN: So, what do you think of the new poster for Season Four?**

 **OP: I like the look of everything except for the fact that Star has earrings now, that just rubs me the wrong way for some reason. Probably just me whining though.**

 **WH: Well you can't please everyone; the minute Star didn't return back to earth the show crossed a point of no return when it came to new ideas.**

 **SN: Indeed. So what are your feelings for the new season to be?**

 **WH: Honestly I'm both excited and worried; I'm excited to see what they do but I'm worried about if the writing will actually improve or just fall in quality.**

 **SN: I get that, most of the problems seem to come from the fact that they are artificially extending that love triangle.**

 **OP: If you ask me it's an obvious case of love baiting; constantly shoving forth the question of whether they will get together or not instead of providing an answer.**

 **SN: I blame corporate charts, most tv shows seem to not grasp the concept of just showing a couple being a couple without a love triangle drama butting in somehow.**

 **WH: *sigh* I will admit they did write off Jackie in a decent fashion; Marco has been in Star's world longer then his own thanks to "Running with Scissors" and can't just get used to the home life anymore without Star.**

 **OP: True enough. Speaking of decent writing, I heard you got some praise for your most recent episode focusing on mental illness.**

 **WH: I'm surprised actually, turns out I'm a half-decent writer instead of a passe-mediocre one.**

 **SN: You need to stop being so hard on yourself Hippie.**

 **WH: I assume I'm doing badly so that when I make a mistake I don't overreact like some writers and don't change out of pride alone.**

 **OP: That's pretty sad actually.**

 **WH: Kind of is... but it's working for me.**

 **SN: Say, why did you include a love triangle in your story to begin with, I thought you hated those?**

 **WH: Usually yes, but the second season of SVTFOE did it in the best fashion I've ever seen and it would make sense in my story as well.**

 **OP: So what do you have planned for it?**

 **WH: Well, I got this heartbreaking scene idea I had since the very beginning of the story that involves the truth box and... do you ever have the feeling someone is watching your every movement? *Looks up from cards to see OP and SN staring at me intensely.* No not you guys, but please stop that. *Looks around for a second until he snaps his fingers* DEUS EX MACHINA! *Reveals Janna hiding behind some crates with a video camera and an offended look on her face.***

 **Janna: Seriously unfair man. *Starts running off***

 **WH: How is she able to break the fourth wall like that? *OP and SN shrug as the game continues*I better get that new episode out, I get the feeling Janna is gonna publish spoilers from what little I've said.**


	27. Royal Pain Pt 1

**I made an OC in the story previous to this one that I particularly liked but couldn't find an opportunity to insert her in, until now. See if you can spot what I originally intended for her character to be related to based on description alone. Enjoy the episode people.**

Marco woke up a bit groggier than usual for some reason and rolled out of bed to get dressed thinking he could shower in the evening today. As he got on some of his clothes though he found he was having trouble doing so as something didn't quite feel right as he would put it. Shaking his head to clear it up of any grogginess he looked down at his hand to try and get a feel for the world around him only to come fully awake upon looking at it. His hand had three fingers on it and his skin was a green color now that he recognized from somewhere. Blinking in shock Marco stumbled to the door to his room only to trip upon opening it and fell down a water slide.

"AHHHHH!" Marco slid down the slide for a ways with it twisting and turning all different directions until Marco began to enjoy it. "WHOOOOO! Kalabunga!" Marco slid a little ways further until he finally fell into a pool at the bottom of the slide coming up after a few seconds spurting water. "Totally righteous dude! Wait, why did I say that? I don't speak like that." As he treaded water Star came up to the side wearing a turquoise swimsuit body wrap of some kind with her hair pulled under a silver swim cap.

"Oh I just wanted to surprise you for a change, in more ways than one." Star poofed up a full body mirror with her wand allowing Marco to take a good look at himself.

"I'm a… ninja turtle?!" Marco had in fact turned into one of the teenage mutant ninja turtles with the shell, the green skin, the three fingers, and even had a head shaped like theirs; though he still had his mole. "Cool, I'm the fifth ninja turtle Verrocchio! I hope my parents don't flip when they see this."

"Oh we are flipping alright." Raphael flipped into the pool splashing everyone. "I love this set up, it is a perfect get away without actually getting away." Angie flipped into the pool next and came up spurting water like a fountain.

"It's nice to see you use your wand so boldly Star; we hope for more surprises in the future." Star smiled blushing slightly as Ange and Raphael swam off. Marco got out of the water to talk to Star with his feet making a squelching sound.

"They are right Star, being bold like that is awesome. But a little warning next time because well…" He held up one of his feet showing it had a sock on it. "…wet socks are a form of torture in some countries." Star nodded her excitement not lessened in the least.

"I know, we actually use that form of torture. *ding dong* I'll get it!" Star leapt off waving her arms as she got to the door opening it. "Oh hey aunt Hel- *gasp* AUNT HELSINKI!" Star shrieked in glee leaping out of the door grabbing onto someone outside. Marco and his parents looked up to hear a female cockney style accent coming from outside.

"No need to get yourself in a bend over this, it's only your auntie." Star stepped back inside leading a woman who Marco swore could have stepped right out of a steampunk convention.

She was wearing practical clothing like that a mechanic might wear with what seemed to be a tool belt holding a bundle on her back hips that he was pretty sure held more tools. What made it unusual was that some of the tools were weird bronze and glass contraptions, she had leather boots that went all the way up to her knees, and she had on this strange studded leather corset of sorts. She also had on some sort of goggles resting on her forehead with some strange bronze and glass attachments to it that just screamed steampunk. The clothes also seemed a bit more tightly fitted then Marco thought those clothes should be fitted with the results showing off her athletic yet curvaceous figure… 'You know I think I have a thing for Butterfly milfs.' Marco thought to himself as he smacked his hand mentally for thinking about someone other then Jackie. She had shoulder length graying-blond hair done up in a ponytail, had stormy grey eyes, a grey clover mark on each cheek, appeared to be in her late 30's/early 40's, and also seemed to be missing a tooth in her smile. She looked around the inside smiling as she admired the work done with the place.

"I see you've been mastering your wand dear, well done." She rubbed Star's head with Star smiling and blushing pushing into Helsinki's hand. "So where are these Diaz's I've eard so much about from you?" Raphael and Angie came up out of the water with Marco walking over to greet Helsinki. "Ah you must Angie and Raphael, nice to meet you." She grabbed the duo in a hug which they returned eagerly. "Now where is this Marco I've eard of so much?" Everyone pointed at Marco with Helsinki double taking looking him up and down. "That's your son, looks like one of those new style warrior druids that ave been coming out recently." Star immediately waved her wand changing Marco back into his normal form while replying.

"Sorry, he always wanted to be a ninja turtle is all." Helsinki looked at Marco who was only now realizing he was shirtless and tried covering himself up. Helsinki gave him a big grin and came over scooping him up in hug as well.

"You I've eard so much about from Moon an Toffee about how you take care of their girl. And you're a cutie to top it off." She stepped back running her eyes over him with Marco blushing under her gaze. "So, ow far have you gone with Star me boy?" Marco blushed even more profusely with Angie and Raphael laughing at this and Star replying for him.

"He already has a girlfriend, a girl named Jackie at school." Helsinki chuckled at that turning back to Marco speaking to him.

"That's understandable." Marco finally realized something no one else had thought of and asked Helsinki a question.

"Who are you specifically?" She smiled and struck a slight pose.

"I am Helsinki Greyjoy; cousin to Moon Butterfly, Master of Engineering of the kingdom of Mewni, as well as Star's auntie an one of er tutors." Star smiled with Angie and Raphael clapping in awe but Marco still had one more question.

"Why are you here anyways, don't you have a lot of work back home?" Helsinki blinked for a second before speaking.

"Well I was around so I… oh who am I kidding; your parents banished me from the castle Star." The Diaz family gasped in shock but saw Star give her a deadpan look before talking.

"What did you do this time?" Helsinki shrugged her shoulders looking genuinely confused.

"Nothin as far as I could tell, they didn't even tell me what I did wrong specifically; just some vague complaints about being too loud and destructive. I keep all my work in the workshop and my noise is manageable; unlike Moon and Toffee when they have a "night of fun". Sometimes you can't sleep because of Moon's cries of pleasure echoing throughout the castle."

"That was bit too much information." Marco spoke as Star hid her face groaning slightly as Helsinki turned back to him smiling devilishly.

"Oh come on, you don't onestly think that old folks don't have se-"

"Please stop!" Star spoke moaning into her hands as Angie and Raphael laughed at this with Raphael speaking.

"She is right you know kids, we too have sex quite frequently." Marco and Star hid their faces as if trying to force those words from their minds. "So are you staying around for a day or two for things to blow over?" Helsinki nodded as Raphael and Angie smiled. "Excellent, that will allow me and the wifey to actually be "getting away" for a little while." The two turned and ran off eager to pack their bags as Helsinki laughed feeling a batting from around her feet.

"Ello there?" She looked down to see blue kitty and the three laser puppies batting around her feet. "You look like an interesting one indeed." She reached down and picked up kitty who gave her a dead pan look as she held her up. "Did Star make you wit her magic huh. You're a lovely fellow indeed." She held the cat close petting it slowly with the cat giving a resigned look. "An the puppies are cuties as well." Lasers came from one of the puppies eyes zapping her forehead making Helsinki blink in shock with a grin splitting her face. "Now that's what I like to see my girl. Care to show me around?" Star looked at her eager to move on from the previous conversation.

"Sure, a grand tour of the Diaz residence. Keep in mind this is the type of house most people in this land have." Helsinki laughed as Marco looked down at his one wet sock speaking in a resigned fashion.

"Now I need to get this off before school, it's like walking through abrasive pudding." Marco stared angrily at his sock as kitty came up after detaching itself from Helsinki and began pulling on the sock. "I think we need something stronger then…" Kitty then sliced at the sock cutting it up allowing it to come off. "…well that works, now I can use that one loose sock to make up for this one." Marco ran up the stairs to get ready for school with the puppies and kitty following him.

* * *

"And this is the bathroom, you go boom boom in there." Star pointed at the toilet with Helsinki going over and looking at it in wonder before speaking.

"Ow do they get the water all the way up ere without magic?" Star smiled explaining things to her.

"They use pumps and a massive system of underground water transportation pipes that would make your plan for the capitol look like child's play." Helsinki smiled at that almost shaking with excitement.

"The technology of this world is AMAZING! I need to study this water system and this "Toilet". Do you know how much more sanitary it would be and how much space could be saved on outhouses if it was made for the average person?" Star nodded with Helsinki smiling eagerly with a gleam in her eyes as Marco called up.

"Star, we need to get ready for school." Star shook her head began leaving while calling to her aunt.

"I'll be back later today auntie, don't burn the house down."

"No promises sweetie." As Star and Marco left Helsinki turned back to the toilet getting out her tool kit from the bundle on her back. "Now, time for me to pry open your secrets mistah Toilet."

* * *

Marco was staring at the board in a bored manner, 'hehe, nice' he thought to himself, as he scribbled something in his notebook he was not sure of but frankly didn't care enough to double check. He glanced over at Star who was diligently scribbling down notes and double checking the board looking kind of dorky in the process. He chuckled to himself a little remembering how Star got a A++ in Miss Skullnick's class and questioned how that was even possible in the first place given what the teacher was like. 'Well she is rather smart and gives everything she's got when it comes to studies so I guess it makes sense.' Marco thought as he was snapped out of his musing by some sort of muffled explosion. As he looked around in confusion the principle's voice came over the speaker system.

"There has been an explosion in the crafting shop area, please go to the designated fire drill…" Marco didn't catch the rest of it however as kids rushed to the door whooping with Ms. Skullnick staring at the chaos dead pan.

"Six years of middle school teacher education; for this." She got up and followed the students squeezing her troll frame through the door to try and gather up the kids. Marco and Star followed their teacher outside only for Star to suddenly catch her eye on something and run for it.

"Star serio… dang it." Marco chased after Star who was running for the disaster zone.

When they got there Marco saw to his shock a group of kids cheering on Helsinki as she seemed to be putting out the fire with some sort of scrapped together fire hose. As she did that Marco also saw Star kneeling over some girl who was coughing from something and rushed over to see what was going on. The girl was wearing an oversized grey hoodie and tan cargo shorts with glasses and appeared to be Asian with black ragged hair about half an inch to two inches long or so, had some slight acne and pock marks, and was carrying some sort of drawing book. She looked up as Marco approached and moved away from him slightly with Marco trying to calm her down.

"Shhh sh it's ok, everything is fine now. Star, what did your aunt do?" Star looked at Marco a bit nervous rubbing her tail.

"I don't know, but whatever it was it's not good." She turned back to the girl still on the ground looking like she wanted to get away from them both. "What's your name?" The girl looked at them nervously before answering with a slight Chinese accent.

"C-Chloe Park." Star smiled and pointed her wand at Chloe who moved away a little.

"Don't worry, I'm just gonna get all the smoke out of your lungs." With a slight shot from her wand Star got Chloe to give a mighty cough and forced out single cough of dense black smoke before she stopped coughing. "See, no problem. Now if you excuse us we need to see to someone else." Marco and Star took off while Chloe got up and moved away with her head down.

"And that's ow you clean up after yourself." Helsinki turned to the group of onlookers who began cheering for her as Star and Marco forced their way to the front. "Oh Star, ere to see the action? Well you're a bit late all things considered." Star came up a bit nervously before speaking.

"Um, can I talk to you for a moment?" Helsinki blinked in confusion until she understood and answered smiling.

"Of course luv. People, I'm sure you ave met Star right?" Everyone nodded with a few even giving Star the fist to chest and peace sign. "Well she is my niece and single for that matter, she is quite a catch being a princess and all." Star began blushing and rubbing her tail as people chuckled amongst themselves nodding in consent. "Well I ope to see you all soon enough. Cheers luvs." She walked off with everyone cheering after her as she and Star rounded a corner with Marco in tow. As they stopped Helsinki's voice got serious, "I went to far advertising you to people didn't I?" Star fixed her with a solid stare that answered her question. "Thought so." Star spoke up to her now.

"What happened in the workshop area?" Helsinki scoffed at Star's words before answering.

"That there is a workshop? That's no workshop, just a place for children to toy around in and learn the most rudimentary of basics. It can't even survive a single explosion." Marco got nervous at that looking to Star who looked a bit tired at this point before speaking.

"Ummm, I don't know what goes on in your workshop but this is earth and things function differently here than on Mewni." Helsinki blinked at his words and thwacked her head in annoyance before speaking.

"Bugger me sideways I forgot the translation thing between different worlds. I'm sorry Star my dear, I won't be taking my work out of the house again." They both smiled at Helsniki as she continued. "After all I finally found out the secret of the private toilet. I ad to replace it as I couldn't figure out how to put it back together again for some reason." Star and Marco both began sweating slightly looking at each other nervously.

* * *

Marco was walking home with Jackie chuckling over nothing specific when they heard what sounded to be a muted botsun whistle. Blinking in confusion they turned the corner to Marco's house to see steam coming out of some windows and some other indistinguishable muted noises coming from the house. Marco face-palmed at this and ran towards the house with Jackie following out of reflex coming to the door and opening it to get a small blast of steam. Inside the noise of gears turning around and combustion engines working could be heard as well as clashes of steel that Marco recognized were weapons. Moving through the house he got to the backyard, Jackie still in tow, to see Star with a poll ax and Helsinki with twin short swords with brass knuckles of a sort fighting in the backyard. As they watched Star pole vaulted with the bottom end of the poll ax and leapt into the air doing a wide swing with Helsinki ducking and rolling under it. She slammed upwards into Star throwing her off course and forced Star to drop the poll ax but was able to regain her footing facing down Helsinki with both of them smiling.

"What did I say about doing fancy moves girl?" Star chuckled as she ducked and rolled picking up the poll ax before facing Helsinki again and speaking.

"Only do it if there are no other options or if it is for fun; like what we are having now right?" Helsinki chuckled and replied.

"Of course luv, now shall we continue for the audience?" She gestured to Marco and Jackie with Star waving at them.

"Helsinki is just seeing if I'm up to snuff so to speak, nothing wrong here." Jackie chuckled with Marco looking in confusion until something dropped out of the sky and covered his eyes. Reaching up in confusion Marco pulled off the covering only to go beet red upon seeing that he had pulled off the bra of a well-endowed person. As he stared in shock at it Helsinki came up and took it from him chuckling at him.

"My my my, you ave a girlfriend and you still can't keep your ands of an older woman's undergarments. What to do with a boy like you?" She smiled with Jackie and Star giggling at Marco's expense as he shook off what had happened as best as possible before speaking.

"How did that get here? I mean bras don't just fall from the sky right?" The trio of women continued to giggle with Star inserting a comment.

"I'm sure some guys would love that though, especially with someone as well-endowed as you auntie?" Helsinki laughed very loudly at that turning back to Marco smiling sweetly as she pinched his cheek.

"Don't be upset me boy, we were just aving a little fun at my accident. You see, I kind of blew up the washing machine trying to do my laundry as I didn't ave the chance to do it before getting thrown out. So expect random clothes to appear at the strangest of places an times; an don't worry, I was able to repair that one." Marco shivered again in worry as Helsinki turned towards Jackie smiling. "Who might you be my girl? Marco's girl I've eard about?" Jackie nodded smiling with Helsinki smiling broadly at that. "Well you got yourself a good boy that's for sure. An what's that by your side?" Jackie held up her skateboard to Helsinki smiling before replying.

"This is a skateboard, many cool kids use these all the time to just move around." Helsinki looked at it intrigued before asking Jackie a question.

"Can you show me how it works?" Jackie chuckled while smiling and led Helsinki away to get educated on the skateboard. As she did so Star came up to Marco smiling at him and speaking with a big smile on her face.

"Isn't she great Marco, Helsinki is the cool aunt every kid wants as far as I can tell." Marco looked up at Star hiding his annoyance and smiled at Star who was positively beaming at him before replying.

"Yeah, she is pretty awesome; but I do hope she goes back home soon as I am not sure the house will be standing for much longer." Marco walked into the kitchen to see some sort of Dr. Seuss like invention that seemed to be making pancakes. As Marco stared at it for a second one of the unfinished pancakes was flipped and it flew through the air hitting Marco square in the face leaving a splatter of pancake batter all over him. "And what's more, I'm not sure how long I will be standing if this keeps up."

* * *

Marco woke up groaning due to it being too warm for him to sleep again. As Marco tossed around a little he realized it felt even hotter than it should be and also heard some rather loud noises coming from Star's room. As he got up shirtless and opened the door he was met with a blast of smoky air that made him cough as he walked out. Following the trail of smoky air he got to Star's room and opened the door to meet with a wave of heat and more smoke as he saw some sort of steam engine running full blast. Coughing a little bit he waved aside the smoke to see Helsinki and Star, the latter wearing some sort of engineers outfit as well, working on getting that engine to work properly in making… something that looked like a square tin can with the pull away cover on the top that you would find anchovies in. As he looked on in shock the two noticed him with Star calling down to him.

"So, what do you think? Helsinki's latest invention in making mass produced sealed containers to make non-perishable food stuffs." Marco stared in awe and annoyance as Helsinki followed up on Star's words.

"So much food that is produced tends to rot away after a year or two even if you preserve it properly. But with this we can keep food safe for decades if we keep it in a cool environment; we don't even ave to worry about moisture with these." Marco stared on before yelling up at them as he was not sure if they would have heard him if he had talked normally.

"Why are doing this in the middle of the night?" He was met with laughter as Helsinki responded.

"When you get an idea, you see it through to the bitter end and get on it before you lose motivation and inspiration. I do this all the time." She then turned back and tightened a few bolts with Star coming down to see Marco speaking to him.

"Do you wanna join in with us Marco, once you put on a shirt." Star giggled as Marco covered himself, 'Not sure why he does that, he's a guy.' Star thought. Marco was about to retort but he saw the happiness in Star's eyes and hesitated thinking back on the times when he saw her this happy. He then shook his head and smiled at Star speaking to her.

"I was just woken up by the heat this thing was making is all, I'll just open a window and go back to bed; see you in the morning." Marco waved turning away and closing the door behind him with Star looking on concerned confusion before she heard a pop from the machine.

"Bloody fukin bugger; Star get me some more bubblegum!"


	28. Royal Pain Pt 2

Marco sat at the breakfast table sleep deprived as he ate a bowl of cereal in a slow and listless fashion dropping bits with every spoonful. The sound of footsteps brought him to attention to see a smiling Star sit down at the table and begin eating a stack of 15 pancakes with some sort of blueberry syrup that she loved so much. Marco smiled slightly seeing Star so happy in the morning with a loud bang and crash making him wince and take another bite of cereal. At this point Star noticed him and blinked in confusion at the state he was in right now trying to put pieces together in her mind.

"Marco, did we keep you up all night?" Marco looked up to see Star with concern entering her face and forced a smile before replying.

"Not really, it just got really hot and I had trouble sleeping at points. No biggie." He took another bite of cereal with Star continuing to stare at him in concern. Marco tried to ignore her but her incessant gaze finally made him look up and speak again. "Well Helsinki may have contributed to me having trouble sleeping, but even if that was the cause of it it's all fine as she goes home today to patch things up with your mom and dad right?" Marco smiled with Star sighing slightly and smiling back at him before someone slammed into the window. Looking up in shock they saw Helsinki open the window and crawl through it with Christmas decoration wrapped around her body. "Um, what's going on?" Helsinki smiled at Marco and Star standing up straight.

"Well there's been a change in plans. Star loves having me around so much an it's just so much fun ere that I decided to extend my stay for a while. Should be no trouble right?" She looked at the duo with Star rubbing her tail nervously with Marco standing up and smiling answering her.

"That's fine; I mean Star is really happy right. Besides you fix everything you destroy." Marco smiled as Helsinki grabbed him in a hug replying.

"Oh you are just a sweetie is what you are." She pulled back looking at him happily and turned back to Star. "From what I ear today is a day off from school. So why don't you invite some friends and I invite some for a party at this house, sound good? Of course it does that's a stupid question, let's get at it then." She took off with Marco finishing up breakfast quickly and going to the kitchen to take care of his dishes. Star looked on at Marco with concern in her eyes as she ate her meal much slower than normal and rubbed her tail worried about what was going on with Marco.

* * *

Oskar, Ferguson, Alfonzo, and Janna all on the back of Floyd swooped down to Marco's house to see a party in full swing with lots of boisterous noises coming from it. The quartet smiled at each other and got off of Floyd filing into the house as Floyd chirped and began grooming himself. Inside were a wide number of interesting entities who were doing various party activities, most of which could be seen in what might have been a frat party. There was a pair of creatures holding up what appeared to be a goblin forcing him to eat a whole cake which he was doing with grim determination. Two people drawing on a sleeping person and chuckling to themselves while trying not to wake them up. One person was even swimming in what seemed to be a small pool made out of popcorn eating some on occasion. As the four looked around Tempest of all people came up getting Oskar's attention making him blush slightly.

"Hey man, you up for another round for these people, can't do it myself despite how awesome I am." Oskar smiled and nodded eagerly running off with him as the other three chuckled at Oskar's unusual eagerness.

"He is crushing SO hard isn't he?" Janna turned to the other two who nodded with Janna seeing what appeared to be some sort of skeletal necromancer. "Oh nice, got to check that out. Come on Ferguson."

"Right behind you." Ferguson spoke going after Janna as Alfonzo realized just out of place he suddenly was here before speaking to no one.

"Ummm, what do I do now?" He was then pulled aside by a random female pixie that spoke to him accusingly.

"Well you are gonna make good on your promise at long last and return to my friends that you met in Pixtopia, got it?" She smiled at him adoringly as she pulled him to a group of pixie girls who were looking at him seductively.

As that happened Marco looked out across what was going on with mixed feelings. He was genuinely enjoying the party but was afraid he would not have the time to clean up after everyone as Helsinki might keep things destroyed with her antics. He shook his head clearing it up for time being and was promptly pulled to the side by Star who was smiling eagerly pulling Marco in a certain direction.

"I want to show you some people Marco, friends of my mom." She smiled at Marco continuing to speak quickly. "You've met some of them and I'm sure you'll like the others." She pulled Marco up to a group with Helsinki in it who turned seeing Marco and Star gesturing on over while calling out to them.

"Come on over, we were just talking about you me boy." Marco stumbled up to her with Star still pulling him and set him by Helsinki's side giving a good view of the group.

He recognized King Ponyhead who looked a lot more laid back with a party hat on than he was when sending Princess Ponyhead to St. Olga's. River was there completely shirtless and holding twin tankards of something that he was fairly sure was alcoholic. Buff Frog was there out of uniform in an ordinary green shit and no pants looking friendly but still intimidating making Marco shiver slightly. The final figure he did not recognize though as it seemed to have arms with snake heads on the end of them, a big and slightly torn up purple cape and purple tight fitting shorts, green skin, and a giant crystal for a head that Marco was sure was a single eye. Buff Frog was the first to speak in a very jolly manner towards Marco.

"You are taking care of Star, guess I'll only take actual good care of you." The group laughted heartily at this, even Star, as Ponyhead cut in.

"Nice to see such a good man helping out our group's little niece and godchild." He nuzzled Star who blushed slightly with Helsinki speaking up.

"Oh, the one figure you don't recognize is Rhombulus, one of the most powerful people on Mewni and a member of Queen Moon's high council and magical protection commission." Marco turned to the figure who laughed and raised his snake hand like a fist bump motion before speaking.

"Nice to see our shining Star has another friend, you're gonna fit right in." Marco tentatively fist bumped Rhombulus which made the snake turn towards him and began speaking.

"Hi, I'm lefty and this is righty." The right hand came up talking as well.

"Nice to meet you earth boy." Marco stared in shock at this before taking a seat feeling faint from just having hands talk to him. River immediately stepped to his side picking Marco up talking to him.

"Don't you fall down on us now my boy, we got a whole day to party and a lot longer with Helsinki." Everyone laughed at that with Helsinki laughing the loudest before speaking.

"Well regardless, raise a cheer and a toast for the guide and guardian of our niece and god child. TO MARCO!" She lifted up a glass of something with everyone else following suite.

"TO MARCO!" Everyone clashed beverages together taking a deep swig with Marco smiling and going along with things.

Despite their praise of him after a few minutes it became clear that Star was the center of attention for the group and looked ridiculously happy at their doting upon her. Marco smiled being ok with that and quietly slipped away to see what was going on elsewhere. At first Marco was pleasantly distracted by the party despite his exhausted state, especially when Ferguson tried hitting on some sort of sorceress with his belly and wound up the ball for an ad-hoc game of volley ball. Of course that started to change when someone began randomly shoving food into Marco's face and speaking what seemed to be a very strange language. Marco knew Star's headband could translate languages within a short range but he didn't know if it just didn't apply to this language or the accent was so thick that he simply couldn't understand them even if they were speaking English.

"Umm I don't need the food, thank you." Marco spoke to it but his words seemed to only encourage it to shove more food in Marco's face.

People began laughing at Marco as he began to run from the figure who chased him looking somewhat pleased with the fact that Marco had decided to run. He ran by yelling for help to Alfonzo but he was too busy entertaining a group of pixies who were snuggling in close to him. Marco then tried calling for someone else's assistance but everyone was either to distracted or laughing at Marco running from the figure trying to force feed him. That is until kitty got underfoot and tripped the figure chasing Marco but it caused him to stumble and slam both sock covered feet into something wet. Looking down in shock he saw he had stepped into some sort of mini blue slime entity who was smiling in glee at something as it turned to speak up to him.

"Your feet are so soft." Marco stepped out of it realizing both socks were wet now and clinging to his feet making him groan in frustration.

"Why are these things happening to me?!" Marco didn't get an answer to his question though and instead got a face full of slime that tingled his skin a little. Marco was snapped out of his frustrated dilemma however when a loud shout came from the door.

"Oh right, the party can really start now huh." What appeared to be a living sun with a goatee and pierced ears began shoving itself into the door way with everyone backing away. "Ohhhh, tight squeeze." He then forced himself through damaging the door way and leaving a few flames on it. "My bad." Helsinki and her group were staring after the living sun with simple annoyance and disgust on their faces as Helsinki spoke.

"Oh ye gods, who invited Helios!?" River spoke up next looking even more annoyed if possible.

"He got his ear pierced now?! That's just gross." Everyone nodded with Rhombulus speaking up next.

"He's eating all the appetizers and snacks now; he's not gonna leave a crumb for anyone else." Star looked up at Helsinki and asked her a question.

"Why don't you just ask him to leave then?" Helsinki sighed pinching the bridge between her eyes before speaking.

"If I did, I would be called a whiny little bitch by Helios for not putting up with his "little flaws" when he's just having a good time. In fact if I did bring it up he might stick around longer just to piss me off. Best to just suffer in silence until he gets bored and goes on is merry way, as a "mature" adult should do." She turned back to her friends trying to block out Helios as Star felt Helsinki's words strike a strange chord with her.

Turning around she saw Marco whipping off slime from his face with wet socks gripping the floor looking exhausted and frustrated. Star looked around at what was happening to Marco's house and realized that maybe Marco wasn't having as good a time as he claimed to be having. Sighing she walked over to Marco who was trying to get one of his socks off with very little success and speaking to himself.

"It's like I'm wearing moldy taco shells. Oh hey Star, what's up?" Marco stood back up composing himself as Star approached him nervously holding onto her tail.

"Say Marco, are you enjoying the party and for that matter Helsinki staying over?" Marco blinked in shock and went to reply but Star cut him off. "And please tell the truth, you don't need to suffer in silence you know." Marco stared at her worried face for a whole minute until he hung his head slightly and sighed before speaking.

"Not really. She is pretty destructive with my house and the school, not to mention inconsiderate when it comes to working in the middle of the night or not picking up the laundry scattered around. But you seemed really happy to have her here Star, so I thought if it was a temporary thing I'll just let you enjoy yourself after… you know…" Marco trailed off implying the events that happened a little while ago with Star's nightmares, especially since she still had to take medication at times because of it. Star put her hand on Marco's arm and spoke softly to him.

"You don't need to do that for me Marco. Despite how it may appear at times I'm not made out of glass, I can understand when things are piling up for you and you need help. Be truthful for your bestie ok." Marco looked at Star and smiled slightly only to have their moment broken by a yell from Helios.

"Well, I'm still hungry but there's no more food. *he he* Guess I'm gonna have to eat the entire PLANET!" Everyone began backing away except for Rhombulus who seemed to be getting into some sort of fighting stance. But the impending fight for existence was stopped with a yell from Star.

"Sudden Water Slide Shower!" A wave of water washed through the whole house leaving a layer of water about six inches deep all over the floor. Everyone in the whole house began complain about being soaked and having wet socks with most of them opening portals and leaving on the spot.

"*hph* wet socks. Well guess this party is over, time to go Tempest!" River called out to his son as he opened a portal with Tempest calling over his shoulder to Oskar.

"See ya soon man." He went through the portal with Oskar waving back having a dreamy look on his face as he left the party. As he left Janna moved out while pushing Ferguson who looked like a gigantic volley ball speaking to him.

"Don't worry about changing back, the sorceress will change you back if she wants her staff safe and sound." Janna chuckled pushing Ferguson out who was chuckling with her as Ponyhead spoke up.

"Since I am selectively empathetic to people's suffering I'm leaving too." Helsinki tried getting as many people to stay as possible with no success.

"People please, this is just a wet set back no biggie!" She then really looked around and saw the devastation she had done over the previous day and the party. "Oh dear, this is gonna be a fixer uppah. Better get start…" But was cut off when a hand fell on her shoulder making her look up to see Buff Frog who spoke sternly to her.

"Mladshaya sestra, I think there is more to this than just the "mess" that has been made." He gestured over his shoulder to where Marco and Star were as Star was helping get off Marco's socks as well as her own. "I think you have something you need to talk with them about." Helsinki looked over at them and sighed to herself coming over to them just as they removed their final socks with sighs of relief.

"Star, is my visit really a pleasant occasion for you?" Star and Marco looked up with Star speaking to her.

"Well I enjoyed it, but Marco has been having trouble since day one. And honestly, if this continued much further I might have been having problems as well. You are a fun person to be with and learn from but being so tightly packed with you can be…" Star was trying to think of the right words when Marco butted in.

"Inconsiderately destructive." Star looked at him in shock as Marco elaborated. "I don't think you could be subtle and considerate in this situation Star." Helsinki sighed and sat down on a couch next to them nodding agreement before speaking.

"He's right Star, I think I am a bit of a nuisance to people when I'm not helping them." Marco and Star blinked in shock at the fact that Helsinki had lost her cockney accent and was now speaking in a voice similar to Moon's. "That's probably why your parents banished me in the first place. I need to go set things right with them once I've come up with a plan. Rhombulus, do you mind if I come over to think of something to say to Moon and Toffee in order to apologize to them?" Rhombulus came over and nodded speaking eagerly.

"Of course, and Lekmet will be happy to help and see you again considering we are the only ones who can understand him." The two chuckled at this and hugged each other shouting out in unison,

"Lekmet Buddies!" As Helsinki left to get her things Helios appeared as a greyish rock about the same size as a golf ball speaking in a stupidly high pitched voice.

"I ain't given up on this party yet people, and neither should you!" Star, Marco, and Rhombulus looked up and around seeing very few of the party guests were left.

Buff Frog had brought in some dirt which he was mixing with the water to make mud to roll around in, Alfonzo was looking awesome with some shades and six pixies holding him out of the water and clinging to him like he was good enough to eat, and some slime wearing a crown was just floating a few inches above the water doing nothing. The two of them looked at each other and nodded with Star cutting open a portal and Marco picking up Helios and throwing him through with Helios screaming. Rhombulus looked like he wanted to say something but didn't instead going to help Helsinki with packing up. Star managed to make the water go away by the time Helsinki and Rhombulus returned to say good bye.

"Don't worry about the ouse Marco, I'll send some automatons to clean things up to be better then new." Helsinki had her Cockney accent back making Marco smile and ask one final question.

"Why do you have a Cockney accent?" She just laughed as she walked through the portal as she replied.

"I do it on purpose because it sounds cool." The portal closed up with Marco and Star chuckling and looking around seeing Alfonzo looking worried as some of the pixies began licking him with Star's face falling.

"Oh boy. Marco those pixies want to eat Alfonzo, we should stop them." Marco blinked in shock before agreeing with her and leaping to Alfonzo's rescue.

* * *

Mavis poked her head through the portal to see the slightly ruined house and shivered at what had come to visit the place. As she did so Dumnorix and Selene poked their heads through with Dumnorix asking Mavis a question in a nervous voice.

"Is that tinkerer gone?"Mavis looked up at the two of them and shivered slightly before answering.

"No idea, but I'm not sending anyone in to check it out. We wait until she just goes away and can confirm it from the outside." the other two nodded with Selene speaking in an unusually cautious tone.

"Wise, I know no one wants to go in there until she's gone." The three pulled back closing the portal behind them.

 **A bit of bonding and everything is worked out in the end. Now it's time for... wait this is an original episode that's coming up next, I don't have a pun for it! Oh well, it was gonna happen eventually.**


	29. Quest for the Sugar Seeds Pt 1

**Well this episode isn't COMPLETELY original, it is based somewhat off of "The Banagic Incident".**

 **To 'The Book of Eli': If you are still reading this at this point, thank you for viewing this fic so highly. I really wish I could respond to you but, you know, guest comments and all that.**

 **Enjoy.**

Marco got his karate uniform on making sure everything was in perfect place as he finished off with a headband. He looked at himself in the mirror striking a pose as he looked at his green belt with two stripes. Today that belt was going to be replaced by a red belt if he had anything to say about it leaving him one step away from a black belt. He smiled in pride and struck a fierce pose turning around and slamming his fist through three boards of wood at once with a shout. Pain traveled up his arm as the boards split but found his hand and arm were still undamaged aside from some reddened skin at the impact zone. He pumped his fist in victory and charged out of his room down the stairs passing by Stars room hearing music come from it. He paused for a second recognizing that music as that from the PC game Star had gotten attached to "Medieval 2: Total War". He smiled at that and continued moving calling out to Star as he left.

"I'm going to karate class, be back by this evening. Remember, Our parents are out of town getting supplies for my dad's sculptures." He heard Star's muffled reply from her room.

"Ok Marco, see you tonight."

Marco leapt out the front door getting onto his bike and peddling off quickly hoping to get there early for some mediation before the trials to calm his mind. 'Form and training is what gives your body power, but a clear mind is what directs that power.' Marco thought remembering Sensei's words of wisdom in his mind.

* * *

Star was in her underwear sitting in her room playing her game surrounded by snack food as she got another victory with the Scottish finally defeating the English for good in her highest difficulty Scottish campaign. Giving a muffled cheer of victory Star consolidated her holdings by repairing her new city and now turning her eyes east towards the Danish and Holy Roman Empire. They were in a slug fest right now with Poland offering jabs here and there leaving them both vulnerable to Star meddling in on them and taking both kingdoms for herself. As she ate a snack letting the turns precede she realized that there was something off about this snack. She was eating cereal, that was not unusual, but it tasted very good compared to what she normally ate. Looking down at it the cereal began looking familiar making her worried. 'Please don't let it be that of all…' She looked over seeing she had almost completely finished off Marco's box of Sugar Seeds cereal with it still bearing Marco's sticky note telling people to leave it alone.

"BY THE POPE NO!" Star almost dropped the cereal and marveled at her curse words. 'Huh, the game must be getting to me more than thought.' Star finished off the cereal in her bowl and quickly saved her game and rushed downstairs to see if there was any more to replace that box finding none. "Oh man, Marco's going to be so mad with me." Star set the cereal aside while rubbing her tail before pulling herself together. "No no, it's not the end of the world; all I need to do is buy a new box of cereal, shouldn't be too difficult right?" Star then remembered that she had no idea where to find the cereal. "Hmmm, maybe the 'Internet' can tell me where to find it." She went back upstairs to Marco's laptop to take a look.

She didn't have Marco's password but she was able to use her wand to open things up to the main screen. Sitting down she opened up the search browser, Marco had shown her how to use it and she had used it A LOT in the time she was here, and typed in 'Where to find Sugar seeds'. When a search brought up movie times for a movie known as "Sugar Seeds" Star smacked her forehead and added in 'cereal' to the search bar before searching again. She saw a bunch of random searches belonging to manufacturers and factories which Star went past before coming to a map to something known as a grocery store. Star recognized that as the place Angie and Raphael said they went to get food every week prompting Star to give a slight cheer. She would find this 'Grocery Store' and get some Sugar Seeds and get back before Marco returned from his Karate class.

"But first I might want to get some clothes on." Star shivered slightly as she realized she was somewhat cold and ran back to her room to get dressed.

* * *

Marco pulled up to the front of the dojo parking his bike and locking it in stepping off and just stood there a second feeling confident about himself. He had progressed excellently along in his training thanks to his frequent bouts with the Forest Barbarians prompting jealousy from Jeremy. 'Well today I'm gonna be just one step below him. Beware Jeremy, Marco is coming.' Marco smiled stepping into the dojo to see several people of various levels doing random warm up exercises in anticipation of today's trial. Sensei had a strange sense of what it meant to 'level up' at times and threw random challenges and tests, or what he called trials, to see just how ready the kids were to advance. Sometimes kids would pass them and not get an advancement but Marco knew that if he succeeded Sensei would advance him; Sensei had actually told him at the end of the last class.

Marco got into one corner of the dojo and got into a meditative stance breathing in and out slowly taking his breaths in deeply. He didn't try to repress all the thoughts swirling along in his mind and instead just let them flow trying to let them all go. He also didn't try to disconnect himself from what he felt around him physically, that was impossible, and instead became one with every feeling. Every itch and warm blast of air against him was just left as is with Marco accepting it and letting the feelings sink in. He kept this up for several minutes feeling the world around him remain there but at the same time become distant, like it had grown beneath him for a time. His thoughts continued to swirl and fade away one by one leaving him with a single purpose, to improve his art and get his black belt so he might protect Sta…

'Wait, that wasn't why I started.' Marco thought to himself with, strangely enough, something in his mind answering back. 'It does not matter why you started, only why you continue.' Marco shivered a little at the voice and continued with his meditation. He felt his mind become clearer and the thoughts all disappear with the physical sensations becoming obsolete. However the feeling of perseverance to protect Star was still there as if it had been there the whole time ever since he started Ballet to get strong. He let the thought flow through him and let it settle as he brought himself out of his meditative state upon hearing Sensei speak from somewhere.

"Alright people, it is time for the trial." Marco got up and went over to where Sensei was with the other kids gathering around. He noticed much to his annoyance Jeremy was there and looking eager, which never went well for anyone; not even Jeremy half the time. "Today we will be focusing on channeling our emotions to overcome any challenge. Using the power of heart, as cliché and stupid as it may sound, is a very potent weapon that can be used to make one overcome anything; even to the point of feeling no pain." People shuddered at the tone Sensei was using with Marco facing forward with grim determination as Sensei stopped by him. "DIAZ! What is your emotion?" Marco answered back with quick confidence.

"Determination with some slight hunger." Everyone giggled at that with Sensei shrugging slightly while glaring at everyone until the quieted down before speaking again.

"Marco, to use you as an example, you will channel your determination and hunger into overcoming physical pain of any kind. Including the breath… OF FIRE!" He pulled aside a mat on the floor to reveal an 8 foot long walkway covered with burning coals making everyone gasp.

"Wait… what?" Marco asked in a worried voice as Jeremy chuckled at him.

* * *

"I wish I knew how to use the 'printer' so I would have a confirmed map." Star looked at the magical drawing she made of the location the "Grocery Store" was supposed to be located.

All the streets were really confusing given how the street name signs were not positioned so one could tell the street they were walking on easily. Not to mention the constant stream of cars going by made it difficult for her to focus on where she was going as the their roar made her defensive. At one point she was taken so far off guard she actually hissed at one of the cars passing by much to her embarrassment. Not helping the situation was the fact that many of the people she passed by were looking at her oddly; not disgusted like some people on Mewni would do, just oddly. But not being used to crowds the stares made her feel exposed and vulnerable to the world around her. She shivered slightly despite the warm day and moved faster trying desperately to find Main Street so she could get her bearings.

"Hey girl, you lost?" Star jumped at the voice and turned to see three tough looking boys coming up to her. "You passed by this area just five minutes ago so we were thinking of giving you a hand." Star felt worried just looking at the boys but then remembered how she probably looked to them given how they probably have never seen a Monster before. She took a deep breath and spoke to them politely.

"Um yes, how do I get to the 'Grocery Store' so I can buy some cereal?" The guys chuckled at her making Star frown feeling some anxiety build up. "Look I'm kind of in a hurry so… not meaning to be rude but-" One of the boys cut her off.

"We get it, busy life and such. You must not be from around here?" Star nodded at that prompting him to continue. "Well Main street is that way and if you turn left you should find it three blocks down and four blocks over to the right. We would come to help guide you but we too have a busy schedule, right guys?" the other two boys nodded at him with Star doing a polite curtesy to them before speaking.

"Thank you very much." She then turned and headed towards Main street quickly with the guys chuckling behind her with Star catching a few words between them.

"She's a strange one ain't she?"

"What gave you that idea? Her dress, the way she speaks, the fact she curtseyed, or the fact she's a humanoid lizard?"

"Eh, I found it kind of cute in a strange way."

"Of course you would find her cute; you find all girls cute."

Star hurried on both getting a little worked up by their words but at the same time amused by their words. They were people to just like her; she couldn't expect anything from them except for them to be themselves. At this point she began wishing she could have brought Marco around with her to give her a hand in moving around. She still hadn't been out on her own outside of the house despite being on earth for a very long time. She took a steadying breath remembering why she was out here and pushed forward finding Main Street easily then stopped cold. 'Ok, which way is right and left again?' Star thought to herself looking back and forth. She knew that she should know which was which but on Mewni they used different terms for directions given where you were facing so she was blanking on the earth terms due to pressure. She shook her head and went a direction moving along quickly intent on getting to the grocery store and getting some Sugar Seeds for Marco.

After a little ways she finally made to where she had to turn again and turned the opposite way she had turned from the previous section. She didn't remember much but she knew left and right were opposite directions at least. Moving along the road she came across a girl walking around 12 dogs who were sniffing around in a bored manner. Star moved to get across the street but too late the dogs spotted her and, more importantly, her tail which was waving slightly. The dogs immediately began yapping and tried pulling their walker towards Star with a fierce determination. This prompted Star to forgo any sense of decency and leapt onto four legs running fast to keep away from the dogs. She liked dogs for the most part but when they saw her tail the first thing most dogs did was try to bite at her tail like it was a game; which she did not need right now. People looked on in confusion as the lizard girl ran down the street on all fours with a dozen dogs, having broken away from their walker, either keeping pace or even slowly catching up with her.

"Mommy, why doesn't the girl want to play with the doggies?" Star ran past a mother and young son who watched Star in shock as she ran with her yelling back at them.

"Because the doggies play too rough for me!" Star leapt forward pushing her limits in speed.

She knew she could beat off the dogs easily with her wand if not her physical abilities but she didn't want to hurt them. Despite all this she made ground to the Grocery Store quickly and found the area to look different then what she was expecting. Looking around she saw a river flowing nearby with a small thing that looked like a restaurant where the store should have been. The yipping of the dogs behind her convinced her she needed to look inside just to see if it was the Grocery Store just in case. Closing the door behind her Star saw she appeared to be in some sort of pub or restaurant, she couldn't tell which was which, that seemed to be a den for pirates. She saw people wearing pirate outfits doing jobs around the store with one coming up to her and speaking in a bored voice.

"Ahoy maty, welcome to the Scallywag barnacle." Star blinked trying to figure out where she actually was while responding as best she could to the pirate.

"Hello… are you guys pirates?" The pirate nodded and responded in his bored voice again.

"Aye, that we are. Come with me and I'll show you to Davy John's fish locker." He turned becoming for Star to come with him with Star going out of reflex. She looked around trying to gauge the atmosphere and getting results she was not familiar with putting her on edge. "Please be seated and we will be with you shortly." The pirate gestured to a table that could likely sit two people with Star sitting down. 'Ok, what exactly is this place?' Star thought to herself looking around in worry. The more she looked around the more she began getting the impression that this was just a themed restaurant, but then again many a places that held pirates gave off inviting atmospheres. As a different pirate came up to her she decided to play along for now and if it did hold actual pirates… well they would get a taste of Butterfly magic.

"Me girl, I saw you did not have a menu so I acquired one for ye. Now, wish to parous our drinks quickly so we may get started?" Star blinked in shock opening up her… 'This is a menu?' Star thought to herself. 'Maybe this was just… no no got to keep a low profile. But what about Marco's Sugar Seeds?' Star shook her head trying to clear it making the pirate blink in confusion. She looked up smiling and answered him.

"I'll have this 'Root Beer' of yours." Star picked one item at random with the pirate walking off and Star thinking to herself some more. 'Maybe I could just sneak out. Yeah, try an invisibility spell.' She held up her wand and whispered to herself. "Magnificus invisirificus" A low light encased her for a second and then blinked out making some people look in her direction in confusion with murmurs going around. 'I think I did it, now to get out of here.' Star got up from the table taking a quick look at herself to confirm she was invisible, which she was, and started towards the door.

She stayed close to the wall avoiding contact with people as she moved towards the door hoping the spell didn't wear off too quickly. 'If this is just a restaurant I'm being extremely rude, but if not I'm home free now.' Star thought to herself giddily as she made it to the door. Opening it she peaked out to see much to her chagrin the dogs waiting right outside for Star to return. Before she could close it however one of the dogs smelled Star and pushed his head in to try and find out where she was. As it did so the first pirate saw the dog and seemed to groan going to shoo it off opening the door in the process. As he did so strong light filtered in giving Star a faint shadow that the pirate didn't see, but the dogs did. The dogs charged into the restaurant with Star dodging out of the way leaving the dogs to run over everything in their path.

Several customers leapt up to pet the dogs but these dogs were on the hunt for Star and just bowled over everyone in their path. Tables were knocked down, food and drinks were spilt, people were trampled, and pirates just stared in shock at the surprise reign of carnage that was going on. Star figured now was a good time to get out and opened the door to leave only for the person walking the dogs to run right into her. They both fell down with Star's spell becoming undone revealing her to the whole store and the dogs with everyone looking right at her. Star immediately leapt up and held her wand at the ready yelling out at everyone.

"Ok, if this is an actual pirates den, hit me with your best shot." Star backed to the door with everyone looking at each other in confusion making Star come to a definite conclusion. "So this is just a restaurant." The dogs immediately went for Star en masse with Star panicking and reacting in the process triggering a spell. "Mighty slappy doll!" Star shot out something that slapped the dogs aside and began running through the store causing even more damage until Star called it back. As she did so she saw that the "Grocery Store" was in fact just down the road about six blocks, seeing it thanks to the hill she was on. Star smiled and turned back to see some angry pirates and the dogs who were trying to get back up ready to go for her again. "I'll just be leaving now." Star squeaked out and turned running like hell was behind her.

"Get back here girl, ye be paying for the damages!" This was yelled out by a female pirate with the other pirates just yelling out as they chased her. The baying of the dogs filled her ears as well as Star ran from both groups trying to get to the store yelling out in frustration.

"HOW HARD IS IT TO GET A STUPID BOX OF CEREAL!" As Star ran she forgot where she was going for a second and accidentally ran into a woman pushing a grocery cart. This caused Star to fall into the cart propelling it at a really fast pace with the woman yelling out after Star.

"My baby's in that cart!" Star blinked in shock and looked down to see a baby with a binkie sitting right in front of her looking up in confusion. Star looked forward again to see cars rushing by up ahead at one of the intersections prompting her to scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH…"


	30. Quest for the Sugar Seeds Pt 2

**Oh yeah real quick, there is anothe oneshot posted up. thank you Ameth18 for the idea.**

"…HHHHHHHHH" A boy bounced away on one foot holding his other foot in pain with Sensei speaking.

"Giving up after just one step is NOT the path to success, how many times do I have to say that? Who is next?" He looked around at the few remaining students standing with Marco stepping forward. "Your second bout Marco?" Marco nodded bowing to Sensei before speaking.

"I am not leaving until I overcome this." Sensei nodded approvingly thinking to himself 'Even if he doesn't succeed he's getting that red belt.' He then bowed to Marco and replied.

"Very well then, do as you will." The remaining students let out sighs of relief until Sensei uncovered another fire pit. "We will use this one as I anticipated someone taking a while." Everyone groaned and went over as Marco stood in front of the fire pit readying himself.

He breathed in and out deeply trying to enter his meditative state to focus himself. He let everything wash over and around him; his thoughts, the noises, what he felt around him, and any worry he might have of stepping on the coals. He lifted his foot up ready to test his determination and put it onto the coals eliciting a sound like a hamburger grilling.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Marco screamed and danced back holding his foot in agony with a snickering coming from the side. Marco shook his head and got back to the fire walk as Jeremy began to monologue over Marco's actions like a narrator.

"Poor Marco, the years have not been kind to him. Fourteen years old and at the bottom of the totem pole in school still, he is a dweeb to beat all dweebs." Marco brushed off Jeremy's words as he made ready again with his meditative breaths only to be interrupted in more ways than one.

"AHHHHHHHH!" A female student was bouncing around due to the pain on her foot and slammed into Marco making him fall onto the coals before he could catch himself.

"AHHHHHHH!" Marco got up screaming and rolled on the floor to put out any flames that might have caught to his uniform with Jeremy laughing.

"Be aware of your surroundings both of you." Sensei yelled over to Marco and the girl as he moved onto the next student with Jeremy snidely commenting on Marco.

"A scared dweeb who only goes all in by accident and always fails when he does. Few real friends to speak of, no surprise there, and all of them are dweebs just like he is." Marco cast a side glance at Jeremy to see he was actually recording this with his phone.

Sighing in annoyance Marco got up and went back to the coal walk breathing in and out slowly to steady himself. He did everything to calm himself down but Jeremy snickering in the background did nothing to help him and the pain in his body was difficult to just incorporate into his being. As he was beginning to get close another scream from a student put him back at step one frustrating him to no end. At this Jeremy laughed making things worse for Marco as he tried in vain to compose himself. He would turn to Sensei to stop Jeremy from doing this but Sensei would simply say that this was part of his challenge and he should keep on going. Marco groaned at the fact that he was in this tough situation and just bared it as best he could rubbing his temples in annoyance as Jeremy commented again.

"Poor Marco, only got a girlfriend by tricking her into thinking he is better then he actually is. Wonder what will happen when she gets bored of him?" Marco shrugged it off though that insult stung a bit.

After a minute of alternating annoyance with failed meditation Marco tried stepping on the coals out of sheer frustration burning his feet again. This time he kept himself from screaming with a tear coming to his eye. People were now watching Marco in earnestness as everyone else had tried with no one getting across the bed of coals. Except for Jeremy, but Jeremy didn't try as he didn't need to do anything to advance in this class in particular; he was just there to show off. As the crowd watched Marco tried channeling his frustration into overcoming the heat of the coals but kept on suspecting that it wouldn't work. As he reached a certain point he tested it out and put his foot on the coals eliciting a bout of pain that flared up his leg. He tried ignoring it and put his other foot out but when it touched down both pains became too much to bear.

"AHHHHHH!" Marco leapt off with actually tears of frustration running down his face. Everyone murmured in admiration at Marco with Sensei out right smiling in a proud manner. Jeremy on the other hand,

"A little heat and he's already crying, shame as he is at least decent in the kitchen. But what does this humble narrator know about him; his best friend is a lzard freak after all." At that Marco went ridged and his vision went red.

Everyone noticed the change in Marco's demeanor and immediately shuffled away from him with Jeremy realizing he went too far given how Marco was acting. Marco turned to Sensei twitching slightly with a question that didn't need to be said in his eyes with Sensei nodding, giving him approval. Turning in rage Marco leapt at Jeremy who dropped his phone getting into a fighting stance himself. Marco leapt at Jeremy in a fashion meant to aim up high but actually feinted Jeremy out and struck low, kicking his legs out from under him. Jeremy ducked and rolled trying to set himself up again; but Marco was giving Jeremy no reprieve whatsoever. Leaping at him Marco went for a flurry of openhanded blows that he knew could take out a fully grown man, especially since he had used them to take out fully grown men. Jeremy blocked and dodged as best he could but every blow he dodged put him off balance and ever blow he blocked felt like a battering ram had hit him.

As Marco's flurry calmed down for a second Jeremy went for a knuckle punch at Marco's solar plexus hitting hard enough to make Marco gasp for air. Not wasting time to gloat, Jeremy used his legs to grab onto Marco's left leg trying to trip him to the ground. On any other student that would have worked but Marco had been in actual fights and had to get out of these scrapes with moves that Sensei had not taught him. Going with the roll Marco curled up into a ball and locked his legs with Jeremy's using his greater central mass to spin Jeremy like a barrel. Jeremy broke free of the lock after a few rolls but was disoriented and shaky on his feet as Marco stood up having recovered from Jeremy's punch. Wasting no time Marco went for another flurry of blows that Jeremy just ducked under and went for a knee to the groin; the ultimate dirty move in the dojo. Everyone gasped however as Marco had anticipated this and caught Jeremy's knee with his thigh and deflected it smiling at Jeremy's shock. Jeremy then ducked and rolled trying to get away from Marco but was too slow as Marco caught up to him almost effortlessly and held him up by his uniform staring at Jeremy eyes brimming with hate.

"You can insult me and my abilities all you like." Marco spoke with a calm voice with an edge like ice. "You can insult the position I have in life and my insecurities." He then pulled Jeremy in close so their faces were touching eye to eye. "But you never go for Star, got it?" Jeremy whimpered and nodded with Marco dropping him eliciting a scream of pain from Jeremy as a sizzling sound happened. Marco blinked in shock at this coming to his senses and looked down to see he was standing on the coals… and felt no pain at all.

"What the…" Everyone around him began cheering with Sensei stepping up and speaking.

"This people, is what it means to overcome the breath of fire. Marco, I was going to wait till after class, but I believe you have earned this." Sensei handed Marco a red belt with Marco taking it almost reverently. He immediately took off his green belt and put the red one on while standing in the coals and smiled with everyone applauding. As he finished however he began to smell something like steak grilling and realized what that was just as the pain finally hit again.

"AHHHHHHHHHH…"

* * *

"…HHHHHHH!" Star slammed through the door to the grocery store swirling around in circles for a few seconds until stopping by slamming into a display of chocolate marshmallows. Star got out shaking herself off and carrying the baby free from the wreckage holding it up to the first person who crossed her path. "Please take care of this; the mother will be by shortly." The person took the baby out of reflex and Star stumbled off down the aisles with the person looking on in confusion before speaking.

"I don't even know who the mother is, how will I give it back?"

Star stumbled down the aisle blinking in confusion as she shook off the last of the crash while looking for Sugar Seeds. She couldn't see any, instead seeing only rows of canned stuff with tomato soup being the main canned good around her. Star moved along quickly hoping to find the cereal before the pirates and dogs found her or even, hopefully, got to the store. Of course as Star turned down another aisle she realized how much like a maze this place was even if all the rows were straight lines in one direction. Star began looking around for a map of sorts and set off down an isle full of bottles of some sort bearing names like _Yingling_. She got some stares from people as she turned into a different isle and began shivering as the area here was pretty cold for some reason. Shaking it off as best she could Star pushed forward through a section that appeared to have frozen goods all over it. As her shivering got more violent and her pace slowed someone called out to Star from right next to her.

"Do you need help finding something, or help finding some warmer clothes." Star looked up to see a random old woman looking at her in concern with Star speaking though the shivers.

"I'm looking f-for Sugar Seeds as I a-accidentally ate the l-last of my friend's." As Star let a large shiver run through her body the woman smiled and took Star's hand speaking softly.

"Come with me, it looks like you haven't done something like this before haven't you?" Star shook her head no as the woman led her out of the frozen section much to Star's relief. "They are right under the section with the sign "cereal" above it. The signs do take people off guard since they are not presented in a way that is immediately noticeable." Star looked up to where the woman was pointing and saw there were in fact signs over the aisles. "Once you have found the Sugar Seeds go down to the end of the aisle and take a right, the registers will be obvious. Do you need anything else?" Star spoke softly slightly embarrassed.

"Which way is left and right?" The woman giggled a little and quickly showed Star the difference between left and right.

"Don't worry a lot of people get mixed up too often. If you are confused, hold up your hands and extend your finger and thumb out to make and L shape. The one that is in the correct direction is the left hand." Star nodded and thanked the old woman profusely moving quickly with the woman waving after her.

Going down the aisle Star found what appeared to be boxes with various cereals within them all over the shelves. Picking through them she saw Jack Apples, Toasted Cinnamon Crunchies, Cheery Nuts of Honey, Trix charms, Flakes of Frost, and…

"Sugar Seeds!" Star grabbed a box off the shelves hearing a crashing sound coming from the entrance to the store.

Freezing up for a minute Star heard the sound of barking sounding a lot louder than the 12 dogs she had been running from a little while back. Running forward she turned right, double checking to make sure she was going the right direction, and rushed forward with sounds of destruction going on throughout the store. She got up to where the registers were only to be stopped by a group of pirates looking out of breath and mad. Star stopped in shock but turned around when she heard sounds of crashing going on behind her to see the dogs coming up the aisles; destroying everything in their path to get at Star. Thinking fast Star pulled her wand out and yelled "Dog collar snapper" shooting out several leashes that latched onto the dogs pinning them to the ground in a whimpering mess. 'Huh, should have thought of that earlier.' Star thought to herself turning around to see the pirates and Grocery Store employees gathering up looking at her accusingly. As the group moved in closer Star tried looking for words until someone familiar stepped between Star and the crowd speaking in a light Chinese accent.

"Stop!" The whole crowd stopped for a second to figure out what had just happened while the girl continued to talk. "Let her explain what has just happened and stop moving in on her like she is a wanted criminal." The group then realized what exactly they were doing and looked ashamed as they stood down allowing Star to find her words.

"Look, I messed up… like I often do unintentionally. I was just trying to get my bestie some Sugar Seeds after I accidentally ate them all." Everyone began nodding in understanding at Star's words as Star continued. "So… how much is it going to cost to repair the damages? Because I don't have a lot of money on me and it's not in your currency, but I will make it up one way or another. Just tell me how to fix all this…" Star gestured to the damaged parts of the Grocery Store. "… and I will!" The group looked at each other for a second until they formed a huddle talking with each other for a second as the girl who stopped them came up to Star.

"Um… I can help you with the money if need be. Take it as apo- thanks for saving me back at the school." Star blinked in shock as she recognized the girl before speaking.

"Chole Park? Nice to meet you again." Star twitched nervously holding out her hand which Chloe took twitching in return. As they did so the crowd turned back to Star with one of them coming forward, a very buxom pirate woman.

"We have something in mind…"

* * *

Marco came back home with burnt feet and feeling sore all over but triumphant as he pulled into the garage on his bike. Grunting slightly Marco got off the bike pushing it into its slot near the wall and walked inside. He sighed in a content way as he opened the door smelling food being prepared… some type of an array of seafood. Blinking in confusion Marco walked into the main area of the house to see a group of pirates, store employees, dogs, and a few other people eating a variety of seafood with Sugar Seeds cereal. Blinking in shock Marco looked up towards the kitchen to see Star using magic to clean up after everyone in the kitchen with a relived smile on her face. She looked up at the door being clammed and say Marco coming in getting a proud smile on her face as she came over to him speaking quickly.

"So I see you got your red belt, nice." Star smiled as Marco let himself admire his belt before shaking his head and responding to Star.

"Um, why are there people in my living room?" Star smiled again and led Marco over where she held up a bowl of Sugar Seeds for him speaking in a proud manner.

"I accidentally ate all the cereal so I went out and got some more. I also made friends with these people on my journey after I repaired the *ahem* damages I caused." Everyone chuckled at that but continued eating. "I also did this all on my own so you would still have cereal, sorry about eating it without your permission." Star smiled at him as Marco took the bowl and began laughing confusing everyone before speaking.

"Star, you didn't need to do that for me. It's just cereal after all. In fact I kind of expected you to do that some time like you did with the bbq potato chips; and the dinner rolls; and the chicken nuggets." Everyone laughed at this with Star looking a little bashful at that. "It's nice to see you went all through all of… well what you went through, just for me Star. Thank you." Marco leaned in and hugged Star which Star returned with tears coming to her eyes. 'I helped Marco out, all on my own.' Star thought to herself, more proud then she probably should be as Marco continued. "Besides, I have several boxes in a hidden reserve; so take this as an invitation to eat Sugar Seeds. What some more?" At this Marco felt Star stiffen up with claws digging into his back making him pull back as far as he could. "Um Star.. are you…" When he saw Star's eyes had gone cat-pupil he felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead; which intensified when Star slid her four inch tongue out and bared her sharp teeth staring at him before speaking.

"Nice to know this 'quest' could have been avoided as well as all of the damages if you had just made it clear from the very start. And I would like to eat, but not Sugar Seeds right now." Marco pulled out of her grasp backing away as he spoke in a panicked manner.

"Star, Star… don't look at me that way!" Star got on all fours licking her lips and leapt at Marco who dodged. "HEEEELP!" Marco leapt away from Star as everyone watched laughing at them.

'I'll just scare Marco… a little bit longer.' Star thought to herself as she ran off her stress for the day hunting Marco down.

 **And don't worry about "Red Belt" I have an idea for that episode, if I ever GET TO IT. Man this story is going to be long.**

 **SN: Don't forget, hinting at the next episode.**

 **Oh right. Well don't 'Freeze' up too much people, you will have plenty of 'time' to enjoy things, as the 'day' can last longer then you might think...**

 **SN: Several bad puns later.**

 **... You don't need to 'Freeze' up your 'day' to enjoy things. heh heh heh. I'll shut up now.**


	31. Freeze Day Pt 1

**I see all, time flows around me like a river unimpeded in its... wait is that a dam? AHHHHHHHH!**

 ***Horrifically exaggerated cartoon crash***

 **Omnitraxus Prime: Hippie's in pain, he'll have to call ya back later. Enjoy the episode.**

Star was readying up her finishing touches before going to school after she had finally gotten her hair in line. She sighed in acceptance and then in awe as she looked at her beautiful silver hair with blue tints here and there. She didn't pay much attention to her physical appearance, she wasn't physically that beautiful in her own eyes, but her hair was something she doted upon endlessly. Knee length and shimmering like moon light, Star twirled in a circle making it wave around in a beautiful fashion giggling to herself. Its length meant that it was hard to take care of but now she had a magic wand to help her out, even if it could hurt at times as she couldn't control the instruments as well as Butler or her parents or grandmother could when combing it. She considered asking Marco to help out but figured he had enough to deal with without combing her hair as well; he was her friend not her hand maid. As she put her devil horn headband in place smiling at the finished image Marco burst into the bathroom only in his pajama bottoms in a rush. He began talking a mile a minute while the three laser puppies tumbled in right behind him.

"Gahhhhh! I over slept, need to get ready now." He picked up a hair brush and tooth brush and tried using them in the wrong spots before realizing what he was doing. "No, must stay foc… ahhh where's my hoodie." Marco tore through his stuff in the bathroom looking for something while Star watched on nervously before speaking.

"It's ok Marco, we can still get to school before first period you know; no rush." At this Marco stood up shaking off some cotton swabs that had fallen on him before speaking.

"This isn't about education, this is about love!" He turned to Star smiling happily. "Every morning at exactly 9:05 I wait by the front steps to the school for Jackie to come by. When she does, we share a quick kiss before walking into the school hand in hand talking about life." Star smiled at his eagerness giving out an 'awwwww' in appreciation of him. Marco then looked up at the clock and his face went white before a look of defeat came across his face. "Doing this is more important than ever now as, for some reason, ever since the Blood Moon Ball Jackie has been… growing distant with me." He rubbed his arm with Star looking on in concern. "It has been happening by inches, I mean I didn't even notice it myself until fairly recently. We've been doing everything right but… *sigh* I just want to stay close to Jackie and I'm afraid this could be… the start of…" Marco trailed off with Star looking on in real concern before an idea came to Marco's mind. "Star, could you help me out here?" Star looked both ways before responding slowly.

"Ummm, I'm not sure what you have in mi…" Not letting her finish Marco spoke again.

"Can you use your wand to, say, freeze time or something like that?" Star blinked in shock as Marco stared at her eagerly with Star lifting her wand tentatively.

"Ummm, I can try. Ummm, 'Easy Peesy Timy Freezy'!?" Star waved her wand with a flash of pink light coming from it before the sound of a ticking clock filled their ears.

As they looked around in confusion the clock ticking slowed down with everything around them slowing down as well. The laser puppies slowed down with even the lasers slowing down to a standstill frozen in midair. Downstairs Raphael was making pancakes with the spell freezing him flipping a pancake into the air as he tried to stop Kitty from leaping up at the pancake in the air. Angie was in the shower singing with a Viking helmet on and rubber ducky in hand as she too froze into place with the spell just as she hit a high note. Finally the clock stop ticking entirely with Marco and Star looking around in confusion with Marco bending down to one of the puppies. Reaching out he touched one of the laser beams that came out of its eyes and recoiled as the heat burned his finger slightly. Standing up Marco spoke in shock with a smile creeping up his face.

"Star… you just froze time. Do you know what that means?" star blinked in confusion before answering.

"Ummm, that you can get to school in time to kiss Jackie and keep your relationship healthy?" Marco chuckled before responding.

"Well yes, but we don't even need to hurry now. It's a Freeze Day!" Star looked confused until she seemed to realize what it meant and a grin split her face as well.

Marco and Star ran out of the house in a rush after finishing up their morning activities past a mail man who was wearing 'anti-laser dog' equipment. The duo went to the local park and began putting mustaches on everyone starting with the babies. They then stacked up dogs into a pyramid formation laughing at the absurdity of what they were doing just for the fun of it. They also engaged in a picnic on a freeway laughing at a group of people suffering from road rage who were frozen yelling at each other. Another stop was the grocery store where Marco measured how much Star could eat before she couldn't' eat another bite of food; which was about 33% of her body weight leaving her panting on the ground with a distended belly. They went to the school and reversed the role a group of bullies were making by giving them all wedgies and freeing the boy who was getting a wedgie. Marco had them stop by the dojo real quick and found Jeremy in mid leap turning him upside down and twisting him so he was heading in the direction of a mess of ropes. They also went to the backyard and found Mavis and her group coming out of a portal allowing Star to swap her headband with Mavis's skull allowing Marco to take a picture.

 **SN: 60 fun filled frozen hours later.**

"Man that was fun, it's nice to just hang out like that." Marco smiled at Star who nodded and replied to him as they stood outside of the school.

"Yeah, we should do this some other time and get everyone involved. Oh there's frozen Jackie." Star pointed to where Jackie was coming up on her skateboard with Marco taking a 'cool' pose. "Let's get you love birds on the right track. Timey Unfreezey Breezy!" Star waved her wand but nothing happened. "Um, Tumey Unfreezey Breezy!" Still nothing happened making them both nervous. "Um Marco, I'm suddenly scared." Star grabbed onto her tail and started rubbing it with Marco coming up to her speaking softly.

"Yeah, me too. We can't get any help to turn this around." Marco moved in close to Star inadvertently grabbing her tail and rubbing it as well making them both leap back in shock. "S-sorry Star, got a little nervous." Marco flinched as Star blushed with her normally light grey skin turning a brilliant crimson at what had just happened before responding.

"I-it's ok Marco, I get that you did nothing wrong. It's just, my tail is kind of sensitive to non-pain sensations so please don't touch it without my permission again." Star held her tail close shivering slightly with Marco looking around in worry calming himself down before speaking.

"Ok, maybe your book has something on this, I mean this couldn't have been the first time this has happened with people right?" Star nodded and replied as she turned for home.

"Then let's get going. I know we have all the time in the world but I'd like to get back on track." Marco nodded following her trying to get the rough yet smooth feel of her tail out of his head.

* * *

Back at home Star opened up her book with Marco's help to try and figure out what to do about this with Star calling out to Glossarick.

"Oh Glosarick, I know you have only been showing me the basics and all that but we have a…" Star opened to a page where Glossarick was finding him frozen in time as well, sleeping with a pink teddy bear. "Oh no, Glossarick is frozen in time as well." Marco snorted and turned the page.

"Didn't like that guy anyways and would have probably been of no help." Marco pushed aside the page turning to Star. "Say is there a table of contents in here, you seem to know more about the book then I do." Star smiled and opened to the front of the book pointing out the table of contents.

"Can you believe it, it was in the center of the book; like dead center. I've been trying to organize it for some time and have had some success starting with this. Let's see…" Star looked at the table of contents looking for something and finally found it. "… ah, cosmic scale emergences; you were right in the fact that this could have happened before." Marco smiled looking content as Star turned to where it was most likely and found the start of the chapter. "Let's see; what to do if you make a dimension explode, what to do if you create a growing black hole, what to do if you make a shimmer…" She stopped looking at the description in confusion with Marco looking in and blinking in shock as he recognized it.

"I recognize that, it was the plotline of a book and movie called _Annihilation._ " Star blinked at him in shock before turning back to the book.

"… what to do if you delete gravity, what to do if you cause spontaneous fusion, what to do if you summon an Ancient One/Elder God, aha what to do if you stop time. To restart time you must go to the fields of time and push the Wheel of Progress to restart the movement of time. Sounds simple enough." Star smiled with Marco groaning slightly.

"I've got this feeling it's not going to be so simple, it rarely is."

* * *

As they stepped through the portal they were greeted to an impressive if weird site. Around them was a vast desert filled with melted clocks all over the place; over rocks, sand, and branches. Above them the sky was a purplish color implying night with all the stars but had strange swirls that lit up the land in a perpetual twilight. The duo looked around in awe for the longest time before Star spoke softly.

"It's… beautiful." Marco nodded responding softly.

"Yeah… weird but beautiful." They looked around a little while admiring things until Marco's eyes fell upon what looked to be a gigantic hamster wheel. On one side of it was a gear that seemed to be cracked In a few places implying heavy wear. "Oh, I think that's the wheel. Let's get pushing." MArco sped off to the wheel with Star calling out ot him as she followed.

"Easy there Marco, we don't' know what's out here." Marco chuckled turning back to her.

"Oh come on; we are a monk and a multi-class sorceress-barbarian, we can handle anything." Star chuckled at his refrence but continued with a serious face.

"Even the dimension with human faced ca…" Marco put his finger up to Star's mouth silencing her.

"Shhhhh sh, I don't want those memories coming ba… too late." He shuddered and clutched himself swaying slightly. "I feel violated just by seeing their faces." Star stepped by him up the rest of the way to the wheel and pushed on it slightly.

"hmmmm, Marco want to get on and help me push?" Marco nodded, eager to get his mind off the cats, and got onto the wheel trying to run on it.

Marco tried running and Star tried pushing but the wheel did nothing, it didn't even squeak or groan from the pressure they were putting on it. Marco even tried climbing up to the top and swung back and forth on it producing no results at all. Annoyed at this Marco looked down to see Star lying on the ground beneath it using her Septarian strength to push it like one would a dumbbell but got nothing out of it. 'Dang, with me swinging on it and Star pushing on it can this thing even move?' Marco thought to himself in concern. Star got out from underneath it pointing her wand at it yelling "Rapid Raccoon Acceleration!" shooting a pink stream of light out that bounced around for a few seconds until it bounced off next to Star. Marco blinked at the pink Raccoon that stood next to star and mimicked her movement of confused head scratching before leaping down next to her.

"Magic won't work on that. You have to use the magic of toesies." The duo turned to see a bald blue skinned guy in white robes sitting on the ground nearby.

"Ummm, who are you?" Star asked in confusion as the guy turned his showing them he had a long white beard and a clock on a chain around his neck before speaking.

"Oh Father time, nothing big. And this is Rocksworth." He held up a random rock shaking it slightly. "Just don't bring up he's a rock he's kind of sensitive to that; and that's a rock fact." He giggled at this with Marco and Star looking at each other in concern. "Oh, I want to ask you, what is that?" He leapt over to a mud puddle with Marco answering him in confusion.

"Um, that's mud." Father Time leapt into it rolling around in glee as he answered.

"Oh well it is glorious." Star and Marco watched him for a minute as he just rolled around in mud before putting some on his tongue. He then spit it out in surprise disgust hitting Marco square in the face with Star finally making some connections in her mind and asking him a question.

"Say, you wouldn't be the one who pushed that wheel now would you?" Father time got up and nodded answering in a nonchalant way.

"Yup, been on there forever. That is until someone jolted me off with magic… say you wouldn't be the ones who did it right?" The two looked at each other and nodded with Father time grasping them in a hug. "Oh thank you so much you two, I wanted off of that damn thing for so long. Oh!" He ran off like an excited child with Marco and Star following as he pointed to random things. "That must be a bush; and that's a twig; and that's…" He pointed to a duck that had a clock around its neck similar to father time. "… Well I don't know what that is but its waddling hehe." Marco groaned slightly and stepped forward speaking upfront to Father Time.

"Look sir, can you say… get back on the wheel and start running. Time is frozen in place and all that." Father Time, ignoring every word Marco said, immediately leapt up a solid twenty feet into the air to land on a random hourglass. "Oh boy it's going to be one of those days isn't it?" They took off after him as he leapt from place to place with Star shouting out to him now.

"Without you rainbows can't shimmer, deer can't prance, and people can't talk to each other. They're stuck in an eternal frozen limbo." Father Time landed in front of some clock with a pair of doors opening up on it.

"Ohhhhhh, what is this?" He danced into the clock with it closing behind him just as Marco and Star got up to it staring at it in confusion. As Marco tried to get it open a scream was heard from Father Time making them both turn to see him riding a VERY fast Tortoise. "YOLO! Anything is possible in this world." Star and Marco looked at each other in confusion with Marco pointing at something getting Star's attention.

"Hey, we can use that thing." Star turned to see a large rabbit big enough to carry both of them sitting there, but shook her head no holding Marco back before answering.

"If this world functions like I think it does, that rabbit is going to be as fast as a tortoise." Marco raised his hand to answer but stopped before nodding.

"That's a… strangely good point." They then took off after Father Time on foot hoping he got off the tortoise at some point.

Chasing him they came to the edge of a river with random clocks floating down it forming ad hoc leaping platforms one could use to get across. Father Time just leapt all the way across no issue but Marco and Star had to leap from clock to clock. As they did so, landing on their first clock, they were both digressed in age to babies with them just standing for a second realizing what had just happened. Turning to each other they nodded and just began leaping through the clocks as fast as possible lest they land on one that aged them to the point where they couldn't swim or jump. They felt the alternate aging processes pulling on their bodies changing their forms left and right feeling like they were being stretched out and squeezed at the same time. When they finally got to the other side they felt exhausted mentally and their bodies seemed unfamiliar to them. When they finally stopped stumbling around Star looked back into the creek and double took to see she had grown up to somewhere around her late 20's.

"Wow… I'm all grown up." Star blinked looking herself over and actually smiled at what she saw; she may not think herself beautiful but she admitted she could still be hot, and damn if she didn't grow up to be a bombshell. Thick curves around her hips and a sizable bust over her still athletic body gave her the appearance of an Amazon, making her bask for a moment at how she looked. Her hedonistic admiration however was cut short by a high pitch yell from Marco.

"No fair, why do you get the cool adult body?!" Star turned in shock to see Marco had digressed in age to around six or so and was pouting, making him look adorable in her eyes.

"Awwww, you're so cute Marco!" Star lifted him up rubbing her face with his making Marco give a deadpan expression as he responded in a deadpan manner.

"Could you please not, this is serious." Star then just held him close like a teddy bear talking to him.

"But you're so ADORABLE! Oh I wish I could just sit her and snuggle you to no end." Marco blushed at that, especially as Star held him close to her now very well sized and developed bust that reminded him of Moon's and Helsinki's. 'Yep, definitely a thing for Butterfly milfs.' Marco thought to himself in grim acceptance as this was not helping his already lax relationship with Jackie. "Wait, we need to find Father Time still! Hold on tight lil Marco. Hehe lil Marco." Star threw him on her back, Marco not happy at the play on his name, and took off at an even faster pace than she could normally manage on all fours.

Running fast across the land Star quickly found Father Time who, upon seeing the kids, immediately leapt up and stared jumping across the landscape. In her normal state Star would have been left behind but in her adult form, even with lil Marco on her, she was able to easily keep pace. Coming across another river Father Time leapt across it with Star, running up the side of a random clock to get a height advantage, also being able to leap across it in a single bound. Marco whistled in admiration at Star's adult abilities feeling her muscles ripple and tense beneath his tight grip before speaking to her.

"Wow Star, you're really powerful." Star giggled and answered him.

"Septarians like myself are born and bred to be warriors, and my Mewman half is no pushover either." She flashed him a toothy grin pulling up to some sort of palace looking thing. "I think he went in there." Star rushed up a flight of stairs emerging in a room full of television screens with flickering images on them. "Whoa, what is this place?" Star looked around in awe standing upright as Marco held onto her back looking around as well before answering.

"I think this is everything that has ever happened in the cosmos recorded for all time." They both oohed in awe at this with Marco pointing at one screen. "Oh, Battle of New Orleans war of 1812, nailed it!" Marco pumped his fist in victory as Star chuckled. Something then came out of the ceiling looking like a long tube that opened on the end revealing a pink and red eye which stared at them intensely. "Um Star, what is that?" As the eye looked at them the screens all changed showing a baby Star on screen making Star gasp in shock before replying.

"I think that's… my history in time.


	32. Freeze Day Pt 2

_A baby Star, with a binkie in her mouth, is holding a stuffed doll that she makes climb up a pile of wooden blocks while seemingly humming to herself._

* * *

 _Moon and Toffee are looking up in slight distress as Star climbs up a curtain completely naked and a good 12 feet off the ground already. In the background there seems to be a crowd of people looking on in amusement, some of who can be recognized as friends of Star's parents._

* * *

 _Toffee is holding up a present with his face in creepy smile seemingly saying surprise to a group of kids. The kids back away or start crying except for Star who claps and giggles happily at her father's face._

* * *

 _Moon has her hair done up in a pair of pigtails and is watching while Toffee is having his be done up in a ponytail by Star. She is wearing a turquoise dress with a pink octopus on the chest and has a comb inserted behind her ear as she puts the finishing touches on it with everyone smiling._

* * *

 _Star leaps forward slashing down three training dummies in a matter of seconds with her claws alone eliciting a cheer from Buff Frog and a group of guards who were watching._

* * *

 _A younger Star, Rico, Ponyhead, Alexis, and Tempest are riding some sort of tricycle chariot away from a group of Forest Barbarians who seem really mad. The chest of gold in the back of the chariot seems to be what both groups are after._

* * *

 _Star is working in a workshop of some sort under Helsinki's supervision with Star's work suddenly exploding for no reason. Helsinki gives Star a thumbs up while Star stares ahead with a comically exaggerated 1,000 yard stare before she starts laughing._

* * *

 _Star sits atop castle Butterfly watching as fireworks are set off with a dreamy look on her face._

* * *

 _Star and Buck Beak are curled up together in the woods taking a nap with a mostly eaten corpse of something just a few yards off._

* * *

Back to the present the effects of the creek of time dissipate from Star as she watches her past returning her back to her 14 year old state. Lil Marco, falling to the ground, looked up at Star to see her smiling at the memories with a tear of happiness coming down her face. These weren't the only memories they saw, that number was 10 times as great, but they were the ones that stuck out the most. As Marco took her hand she wiped her tear off and turned to Marco speaking softly.

"I keep on forgetting that with all of the bad stuff there is also a lot of good stuff in my life as well. Thank you for getting me here today Marco." Star kneeled down and hugged Marco close with Marco returning it smiling. It didn't last long however as the eye came down staring at Marco with his life replaying before their eyes as well.

* * *

 _A baby Marco is seen carrying something up to an older woman that appears to be his grandma on Raphael's side. She takes the item, a sewing needle, and pats his head with Marco giggling in happiness._

* * *

 _Marco is crying in the park as his parents get in a shouting match with three men whose children are behind them laughing at Marco's pain but glaring at him as well._

* * *

 _Marco is running around holding up a stuffed toy of a turtle making what appear to be older cousins from Raphael's side of the family run away in comically exaggerated terror._

* * *

 _Marco is shown running away from Janna who is trying to give him a spider with a frustrated look on her face while other kids laugh at him._

* * *

 _He is shown standing in a cool pose trying to impress Jackie whom he nods to as she walks by with her not even noticing him making his face fall slightly._

* * *

 _Marco and his parents are walking by the park with Angie shielding Marco from the sight of what appears to be a small Neo-Nazi rally with people holding up signs saying 'Out with the border rats'._

* * *

 _Marco is shown dancing ballet with a group of fellow students admiring him with a smiling teacher clasping her hands and just watching him dance beautifully._

* * *

 _A group of bullies are beating down Marco with limited success as Marco fights back trying to get his ballet slippers back._

* * *

 _Marco is seen playing an RPG with Ferguson and Alfonzo with the Wandering Hippie of all people acting as the Game Master._

* * *

 _Jackie is staring in shock at the vomit in her lap as Marco is running away crying while everyone in class laughs at him._

* * *

 _Marco is shown training in a Karate dojo with a pile of three kids Implying he had beaten them all down. However he had a blank wistful look in his eyes like he wished he could be somewhere else._

* * *

 _A pimple faced Marco is sadly looking at a shattered action figure of Mackie Hand as a group of badly beaten bullies limps off in fear._

* * *

As the memories stopped flowing Star looked over to Marco, who is now back to his ordinary age, looking down in a sad expression as his trip down memory lane was not so pleasant. Star put her hand on his shoulder with Marco putting his hand over hers as she spoke to him.

"Why didn't you tell me more than just the stuff after the football game?" Marco looked at her with a happy if tired expression before speaking.

"You never asked and it was never needed. I overcame these things from the past and am standing proud now like I know you will one day." Marco smiled at Star with Star smiling back sharing a moment. "Now let's find Father Time and get things…" A deep voice suddenly boomed out.

"Intersection detected; 10 years ago."

"Wait, what?" Marco and Star spoke in unison turning towards the screens as more images flashed by.

* * *

 _A four year old Marco is hiding behind the lavender dress of Willow, Star's grandmother, as Star looks on eagerly with Willow talking to him softly._

 _"Go on, say hi to her. She is a really sweet girl after all." Marco stepped forward towards Star and began speaking to her timidly._

 _"Hello, I am Marco." Star smiled and talked back to him._

 _"I am Star, nice to meet you." Marco looks down bashfully as he speaks again._

 _"Your hair is really pretty." Star giggled and pranced on up to Marco booping his mole before speaking._

 _"I like your little Mewni mark, are you a prince?" Marco blushed even more and took a step back rubbing his arm slightly before answering._

 _"No, I didn't think my mole meant that for me." Star giggled at his words with Willow smiling at the two._

* * *

 _"Can't catch me!" Marco ran through the words giggling as Star ran behind him on all fours laughing as well._

 _"The mighty hunter always gets what she wants Marco!" She leapt on him with the duo rolling around a little before collapsing into a pile._

* * *

 _Buff Frog is holding a stuffed animal as Star and Marco watch closely and listen carefully to him in some sort of training room._

 _"You know you have gotten them my little munchkin when you feel the neck snap." Buff Frog twists the stuffed animal until stuffing comes out from its neck area with a squeak._

 _"YAAAAAAAAAY!" Star hops up and down clapping her hands as Marco looks on in awe at Buff Frog._

* * *

 _Marco and Star are rolling around in a mud puddle in only their underwear with both of them laughing up a storm._

* * *

 _Willow is reading them a story under a willow tree with both of them curled up on her lap. Marco is also combing Star's hair with the special comb making Star curl up next to him and make purring noises in pleasure._

* * *

 _Marco is standing in front of a portal hugging Star goodbye with Willow watching their parting with a content sadness in her eyes. As the two part Marco speaks to Star happily._

 _"One day, I'm going to become as big and strong as you are and become a knight to help you. I swear this by the ninja turtle code of honor." Marco slams a fist on his chest making Star giggle before answering._

 _"If you can do that, you can become much more than that. Perhaps even my prince?" Star leaned over and kissed his cheek making Willow squee in glee and Marco blush before responding._

 _"Maybe, I have to think on that. We will meet again right?" Marco and Star turned to Willow who sighed and nodded before answering._

 _"Of course you will, if you want to."_

* * *

The images stopped flowing with Marco and Star staring forward in shock registering what had just happened before them. Turning slowly they looked at each other with Emerald green eyes locking with chocolate brown before hands went up onto cheeks. Marco's went to Star's face with the hands cupping Star's face and the thumbs resting on her heart marks. Star's hand went up and cupped Marco's right side of the face with the thumb resting on his mole. They stared at each other in silence before speaking in whispers.

"You… made me want to be a ninja turtle… Silver Heart Princess?"

"You… were the one who wanted to be just like me… Mole Boy?"

They stood there for what felt like an eternity with them just comprehending how long they had known each other and what it meant for them. A sharp *thwang* sound snapped them out of their state making them turn to where father time was playing with a door stop.

"Ohhhh, feels like we are living in the future." Father Time spoke with Star and Marco turning on him breaking apart with no hesitation.

"Get him Star!" Marco leapt at him while Star held her wand up and shouted.

"Slippery Snake Entrapment!" Snakes shot out encircling Father Time in a dense net like mass that also caught Marco who spoke in a deadpan manner.

"Well, you got him Star." Star chuckled a little abashed at this and went up to Father time gripping him tightly and talking to him sternly.

"You are going back on that wheel and you are going to help the universe progre…" Before star could finish however the eye came back down and looked at Father Time. The screens light up as his past was replayed to them.

* * *

 _Father time starts running on the wheel with it speeding up as time flows by quickly. Father Time is actually running with a smile on his face as he speeds up allowing the eons to progress. As they progress he keeps on running… and running… and running… and running… and running… and running… and running… and running… and running… and running… and running… all the while his face is slowly falling in boredom in monotony. He looks around wistfully every once in a while but that's all that breaks up the running... and running... and running... and running..._

* * *

Star and Marco looked on in dull shock at the sheer dullness of Father Time's life and how bad it must have been to experience that for eons. They had been through some pretty hard stuff themselves, major ups and downs, but Father Time had NEVER experienced even one up before Star knocked him off. They both looked up at him with his eyes glazed over in sadness and his whole form depicting the mood of 'crestfallen'. He sighed and put on a fake smile as he turned and hopped to the stairs awkwardly as he spoke.

"Well, might as well get back on that wheel. I mean it's only for eternity." Star and Marco watched him hop for a second before they turned to each other and spoke in unison.

"We can't just let him go on like this." They blinked in shock at this and chuckled before Star spoke.

"But what can we do? If we don't get him back on the wheel we will be stuck in an eternal limbo and the cosmos will be frozen forever." Marco thought for a second until a yelp and crash got their attention. They both looked down to see Father Time had fallen down the stairs and was being nuzzled by a gigantic hamster with a clock around its neck. Marco rubbed his chin thoughtfully before turning back to Star asking her a question.

"Does the wheel need to spin by someone running on it in order to function?"

* * *

The wheel of time is sitting free of its holding wires now and tied up to a group of six gigantic hamsters like sled dogs. Father Time is sitting on the wheel smiling like no tomorrow looking down on the two kids as he spoke happily.

"Thank you so much for giving me a hand and finding a way so that I can run free and still do my job." Marco and Star smiled nodding to him as his face got serious. "Now please don't freeze time again, it's fragile and could break fairly easily. Oh and you can help yourself to any of my mud, including the good stuff." Marco and Star looked at each other with Star chuckling and Marco shrugging slightly with Star replying.

"Won't take much even if we do take some, I still like mud baths after all." She smiled as Father time laughed and whipped his reins on the hamsters yelling out.

"On Huey, Dewy, Louise, Stewy, Gooey, and Drooly!" The hamster took off with Marco and Star watching him go for a second before returning back to school through a portal.

* * *

"So, care to tell me why you have gathered us up for this meeting." Angie spoke curiously as Marco and Star finished introducing Willow to Angie.

Currently Marco, Star, and Angie were standing in Star's room with Willow there via a mirror to chat with them. The duo hadn't told either of the older women why they had gathered them up exactly but did let them know it was a question about the past. As the group got settled Marco spoke first to both Willow and Angie.

"Have Star and I ever… met before the day Star came to my dimension?" The two looked at each other in confusion as Marco continued. "We had some questions after we encountered a few thing among Star's belongings that looked familiar. I didn't react to Star as strongly as an ordinary human would given I had never seen her before and what's more you looked familiar Willow." He held up the special comb before continuing. "And what's more, this comb seemed familiar like I had used it before. Can you give us any insight to this?" Angie scratched her head in confusion as Willow seemed to smile and finally began to chuckle slightly before speaking.

"So, you two have figured it out at long last. A long time ago, when you two were four, Glossarick instructed me to bring a certain earth boy in to play with Star for some reason. Your parents were very busy at that time Star so it was easy to get you alone with me to play with Marco. You two got along so well it was almost like fate had meant you two to be friends." She giggled as Marco and Star listened intently with Angie's face beginning to show recognition. "Of course after you two met up for day time play-dates for several weeks Marco said he couldn't come to play anymore as he was getting ready for kindergarten. I let Marco go and… you two seemed to forget about it as Marco never came back and you didn't ask after him Star. Even Buff Frog never asked after Marco despite seeing him once or twice. I would have told your parents but Glossarick told me to keep it low key for 'dire reasons' as he put it. I will never understand that man." Willow sighed in a content manner as Angie spoke up snapping her fingers.

"Of course, I remember now. Marco came back from playing outside during the summer when he was four talking about how he had spent the day with the lizard princess Star multiple times. I always thought it was just you playing with an imaginary friend fueled by the stories I told you of Moon's and Toffee's child." Marco and Star looked at each other in shock before turning back to the two women who looking at them happily with wet eyes. "I really wish I had photos of your two from that time and that I could have been there." Willow chuckled and held up a photo before speaking.

"I can't do the latter request, but I can do the former." Everyone looked to see a photo of Marco and Star curled up on Willow's lap taking a nap with Willow rubbing their hands softly. "You two were so cute, I wish I could have had you two meet up more. In fact, I'll be sending you photos now Angie as it seems the rabbit has left its hutch." The two laughed as Willow said goodbye hanging up and a crash from downstairs made Angie go down cursing under her breath. Marco and Star just smiled at the thought with Star asking a question that had been on her mind all day after their adventure.

"So, how did it go with Jackie? I saw you two kiss and climb up the school's entrance but how did it go?" Marco sighed with his face falling slightly as he replied.

"Nothing seemed to have changed honestly. I mean that's a good thing normally but with how things are going…" Star put her hand on his shoulder speaking to Marco as he trailed off.

"Hey, every good relationship takes effort. I know my parents can get into ridiculously long discussions of what is the correct method in doing everything if they don't agree right off the bat; down to the most minute detail. Just remember if your relationship with Jackie gets too strained, it's you two against the problem not each other." Marco actually chuckled at that and turned to Star speaking.

"When did you get so good at dating advice?" Star chuckled and answered in a confident tone.

"Well my parents have one of the best relationships out there and it is often said that single people give the best advice for relationships." Star chuckled but it seemed forced prompting Marco to move on from the conversation.

"So, what's the newest pc game you've gotten into?" Star chuckled and turned to her computer, a combined gift from both their parents, booting it up quickly turning back to Marco.

"It's a game most people deem a classic called _Age of Empires II_. Most people claim that despite its age it is one of the great classics that will never die in the gaming industry." Marco sat down on a beanie bag next to Star's gaming chair and listened to her go on with interest.

He was not into these types of games, preferring the street fighter style fighting games, but when Star talked about it the games always seemed interesting. Plus he just liked to see her so happy and into it; also, this was kind of selfish, he loved to see her eyes go that beautiful purplish-green as she spoke about a game she really liked.

 **For those of you that saw this coming... you've been paying attention haven't you? I good twist is something you can look back at the story and see the hints of it scattered all around. That scene with Buff Frog look familiar? Go back to "School Spirit Part 1" and you will get some answers.**

 **Also, 200+ views a day for eight days straight? What am I doing right to get so many people interested in this? Thank you so much for the support.(Seriously though, what am am I doing right?)**

 **Up next, come on down to the place where princesses are made to perfection... *whispers* at the highest price possible, "St. Olga's."**


	33. St Olga's Pt 1

**I'm going to be honest, when I first watched this show all the way back in 2016 before the second season came out this was my favorite episode. Given how this is also the third most requested episode I have to say other people liked this as well. Also, spoiler, you are finally going to see this world's equivalent of "Toffee" as a villain at the end of this episode. Anyways, on with the show.**

"Hiii-ya!" Marco slammed down a karate chop sending a barbarian to the ground clutching his head in pain with another yelling out. Marco and Star were fighting the Forest Barbarians in Marco's back yard, again.

"How did you do that?! Skulls are pretty tough items you know." Marco smirked and got into another fighting stance before replying.

"My tolerance to pain has increased as has my ability to take damage. I think you are outmatched man." Marco's gloating was cute short as Dumnorix body slammed Marco across the back yard into a statue chuckling at the boy before speaking.

"Outmatched eh? Let's see you take on a real warrior then. No offense." The other barbarians shrugged at this with Star yelling out.

"Heart swarm mist! Feel the love gents." A swarm of red hearts flew into Dumnorix and a few barbarians near him swooping them away in a tide that tumbled them like laundry. "Who's next?" Star turned looking around to come head to head with Mavis and Selene who had their sword and trench knives drawn respectively. As Star stared them down Mavis spoke to Selene quickly.

"Make sure Star here has a good beat down, I'll keep Marco off your back." Selene chuckled and leapt at Star with Mavis turning and charging at the still recovering Marco. "YOUR END COMES SHADOW MURDERER!" Marco ducked and rolled coming up into a fighting stance as Mavis misses by hair widths in her slices. "They have been with me since the day I had to leave Castle Butterfly for good!" Marco deflected her blade and kicked her just above the shin guard making her stagger as Marco replied.

"Preying off of Star's insecurities to get your prize; there's a special circle in hell for you." Marco then attacked her with a cold fury as, because of the armor and the fact she had a weapon, Mavis barely kept him at bay.

"You know you can't beat me Star, I am the perfect match for you like Dumnorix is for Marco." Selene rolled around Star's blasts landing slashing blows that Star healed from quickly but at the cost of draining her energy. Star just smiled and whistled before retorting.

"Luckily I don't have to." Selene blinked in confusion until kitty leaped out from hiding and wrapped itself around Selene's face making her drop her knives.

"Ah, get it off!" Selene scrabbled at her head with her screams and voice being muted by the bobcat sized thing attached to her face. Star turned her head knowing Selene was out of the picture seeing a group of barbarians advancing in shield wall formation to block her spells.

"Hehe, that's not going to work this time. Sap Wave Typhoon!" A wave of energy built up for a second and then spilt outwards as a wave of tree sap going over everything in its path.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!" Everyone screamed as the sap overwhelmed everything in its path, including Marco and Star. As the wave died down people began pulling themselves out with one of the barbarians calling out softly.

"Sticky, super sticky." Mavis got up with her arm stuck to her head and her legs stuck together secretly relived at the wave as Marco seemed to be going in for the kill quite literally.

"Well, another failure to rack up people." Mavis got out her scissors and cut a portal gesturing for everyone to go. "You know the drill." She spoke in an exasperated tone of voice as the barbarians staggered through plastered in Sap. Dumnorix even had it covering his one good eye and Selene was stuck onto his back pouting looking like a child in a back carrier. "We'll be back for that wand, you can't protect it forever girl." Mavis shut the portal as Star cleaned the sap off of her with magic nonchalantly before speaking.

"Grrrr, when is she just going to stop and leave us in peace; can't a girl play the _Age of Empires II_ campaigns without her bitch of an aunt breaking down the door? Need help over there Marco?" Star turned to see Marco had been stuck to Kitty with them both being stuck to one of his father's statues as they both struggled to get out.

"Yeah, a little help would be much appreciated." Star waved her wand clearing up the sap across the yard effortlessly. "Ok, now that that's done…" A beeping came from Star's pocket mirror with Star coming alert.

"Oh, Ponyhead is calling in a few minutes. Come on Marco, today's her birthday." Star dragged Marco along with him going somewhat willingly as Kitty followed along nonchalantly.

* * *

"…happy birthday on your birthday day, happy birthday on your birthday day!" Star finished the song with Ponyhead smiling in the mirror screen. Marco, Star, and Kitty were currently in Star's room talking to Ponyhead in her 15 minute monitored mirror call she got due to good behavior at St. Olga's. "We also prepared you some sparkler cupcakes, Marco prepared the best of the best just for you." Marco held up the cupcakes with an uninterested look on his face as the cupcakes shot off little fireworks all over them with Ponyhead gaping in awe before answering.

"Oh wow B-fly, you went all the way for me." Ponyhead seemed ready to burst in glee before visibly calming herself down and speaking in a more refined manner. "A princess such as myself cannot indulge in such sweet confections though. But please donate them to the starving kids of Balmatharorum on my behalf." This caused both Marco and Star to look at her in confusion before Marco spoke up in a slightly offended manner.

"Um, did you bump your uni-horn princess, these are supposed to be your favorite and it took me three trys before getting these just right according to Star." Ponyhead looked around in worry before whispering to the mirror.

"Earth turd I can't' accept them, we don't get packages at this school. My dad can't even send anything here." Star nodded shrugging a bit before speaking.

"That is true; they do have to clamp down on far worse cases then Ponyhead you know." Marco blew some air a bit annoyed before Star continued. "Even so, we could totally party it up for your birthday; tea riding at the Dowager lounge, sliding on Zala mountain, and party all night at the Bounce Lounge. Wouldn't that be awesome?" Star blinked expectantly at Ponyhead with her answering very strongly.

"Oh boom yeah, that would be the best birthday EVER!" A sound of a door opening happened in the background with Ponyhead going pale with fear. "Oh no, my third strike in expressing individuality! Don't forget me B-fly!" The call was ended with Ponyhead screaming at the camera as figures moved in behind her. Star sighed and spoke something that took Marco off guard.

"Oh Ponyhead, why did you have to be so reckless; we could be celebrating your birthday right now together." Marco blinked at Star and got a determined look on his face as he set the tray of cupcakes down turning Star to face him.

"You're taking the school's side Star?" Star blinked at him in shock before answering.

"Well if someone is just acting out simply to act out then they are a wild fire that could hurt themselves or others. I know Ponyhead is a great person but she needs to learn some restraint before she causes some real damage." Marco gaped in shock for a second at Star before getting a grim look on his face.

"Well you know what, I am not going to just stand aside and let someone be punished simply because they were living life to the fullest. I'm gonna go and bust Ponyhead out as a birthday gift just to snub the man!" Marco took a brave pose hitting his chest with a fist until he realized what he had just said and blushed slightly.

"EEEEEEEEEE, my bestie's are besties now!" Star latched onto Marco with Marco blushing even more at this and spoke as calmly as he could.

"No Star, we are not at that point; we have only reached the stage of accepting each other as friends of you. I'm doing this because Ponyhead does not deserve that treatment." Star giggled at Marco before her face became serious and she backed off rubbing her tail nervously.

"But Marco, St. Olga's is high security and it will look really badly on my parents if we are caught busting Ponyhead out. Should we even do it?" Marco smiled walking over to Star's mirror/makeup desk before speaking.

"Ponyhead would go in for you so you should go in for her. And what's more, I've seen every prison escape movie known to man and trained under Janna for cracking locks and sneaking around. All we need is wits, patience, and a bobby pin to unlock doors." With that Marco pulled out a bobby pin holding it up in the air making Star chuckle.

"Or, we could just use our scissors to open a portal right to Ponyhead's room and take her out that way." Star smiled smugly at Marco as he blinked and then nodded smiling.

"Yeah, that works to. You're on your own today Nacho, don't burn the house down." Kitty meowed at him and curled up next to Star's space heater with Star chuckling at them.

"His name is Nacho?" Marco shrugged and responded naturally.

"Well he needed a name, and he seemed to like it. Well let's go."

* * *

"Um Star, this is not Ponyhead's prison cell." Marco looked around a dull grey dried out badland with overcast skies like one would see in a movie as Star poked her head through the portal and responded.

"Hmmm, maybe there's something messing with portal making abilities; there are things that do that you know." The cutting of another portal got their attention as a carriage pulled by black horses came thundering out in their direction. Star leapt to the side pulling Marco with her keeping them from being trampled as the carriage made a sharp turn and seemed to pull up somewhere by the sound of it. "I have a good feeling I know what is in that carriage." The duo looked up over a ridge of rocks to see where the carriage had pulled up to.

Behind the carriage was what appeared to be a squat if very large castle that seemed built more like a prison out of deep grey stones that were slightly darker then Star's skin. Surrounding it was what seemed to be a medieval stone wall with some sort of magical barrier coming up out of it encasing the whole school like a domed bubble. The carriage had pulled up in front of the gates with a myriad of princess like figures emerging from it and were lined up in front of several figures like those Marco had seen take Ponyhead away back at the Amethyst Arcade. Among them however was a short bald man about 2 to 3 feet tall with a left peg leg who appeared to be missing one eye and the other was covered by some sort of steampunk like glass goggle. He looked over the girls and chuckled as lightning struck from behind the school illuminating it like in a horror movie as the small figure spoke.

"Ah, the newbei's have finally arrived. Welcome to St. Olga's School for Wayward Princesses." Star and Marco ducked down behind the rocks with Star actually chuckling before she spoke.

"That is a nice display, but that is obviously meant as an intimidation tactic with the lightning." Marco chuckled as a plan formed in his mind.

"We could sneak in with the new arrivals unnoticed if we had disguises. Star, if you would." Star chuckled and rose her wand yelling "Radiant Shadow Transform!" A rainbow light came up encasing Star and Marco changing their clothes to more properly fit them with disguises. As the light fell Marco saw Star had switched her attire for a black vest shirt and black leather skirt with heavy spiked black boots and fish net arm covers with an eye patch on and her devil headband turning black. "Whoa, you look awesome Star." Star punched the air a few times turning back to Marco smiling and responding.

"I would have to say pink is definitely your color also." Marco looked down in confusion to see he was wearing a pink and purple poufy dress like he had seen Moon and Willow wear before responding.

"Wait, you couldn't have given me a suit and mask like the cool guards had?" Star looked up and down his figure with a knowing smile before responding.

"Do you honestly think you would be able to use that disguise with that lean and slightly feminine figure of yours?" Marco sighed in annoyance and nodded with a foot and a half long ponytail bobbing with it before responding.

"I get that; let's get going before they are all let in." Marco and Star hurried out getting in line with the other girls as they filed into the school. "Remember, keep your cool and your head down; we don't want to attract attention." Star nodded with a grim look on her face as the gates shut behind her.

The group walked across a bleak courtyard to the secondary school entrance that was a pair of large wooden doors that slowly opened to allow them inside. As they got inside the doors closed behind them with images playing around them and a voice talking out that they recognized from the short man who had greeted them.

"St. Olga's School for Wayward Princesses, the finest establishment for reformation and education for the ones that won't budge. No distractions, no complications, no interlopers, and no boys above all else. Don't allow your noble bloodline to be thrown away; Etiqutte is our specialty as we train your daughters to be what they should be. We turn undisciplined behavior into perfection that will insure that the brat your daughter has turned into will become the noble and proper child that your bloodline can rely on."

After walking a little ways further the girls came into a greeting room looking a bit like a lobby with the short guy coming up to stand up front with someone coming out of a nearby hallway to stand next to him. Marco and Star looked around seeing several of the girls were looking around in pissed defiance while others looked worried and scared. Marco looked at Star with a blank expression to find she was actually rather calm despite everything not even twitching or rubbing her tail. He smiled slightly before reforming his face and looking up at… the shockingly beautiful woman who had stepped forward. She appeared aged with a renaissance hair style of grey hair over a surprisingly porcelain face with sharp stormy grey eyes and a single mole on her left cheek mirroring Marco's beauty mark. She was wearing a formal purple dress with long black gloves and what seemed to be a corset considering how slim her waist looked which surprised Marco that it didn't' annoy her at all. She was not exceedingly beautiful by a long shot but with the prim, proper, old-fashioned, stern, conservative, and prudish atmosphere around her it was a surprise she was beautiful at all. As she spoke her voice was stern, quite, and prim but carried great weight with it like she was a person meant to be in charge.

"My name is Miss Heinous the headmaster of this school, and every single one of you girls is here for a reason." She walked up the line looking them over with an inspecting look that made everyone flinch when it landed on them. "Too bubbly, too free spirited, too rash, too wild. A person might have their own 'flair' for doing things but being truly an individual is a luxury you cannot afford to have as nobility. So when I am done with you, you will be exactly as you should be; a slate ready to carry on the lineage of your kingdom." She reached into the pocket of one of the princesses and pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors. "And don't rely on these to escape, they are useless. We have a Tremorfidian crystal in tower three; only Heckapoo herself can hold a portal open under its influence. So you might as well cough up the scissors you smuggled in so we might make things easier for all of us." The crowd groaned and began throwing out scissors onto the floor with Marco and Star winking at each other as Miss Heinous went back down the line smiling. "That concludes the orientation; I am confident you will all come out of this perfect princesses one way or another." She turned away from the group patting the short man on the head in a sign of affection as she walked away. "I leave them to you Gemini to see them checked in." He turned to the group smiling holding out a clipboard as Miss Heinous disappeared.

"Let's get your rooms assigned so we might get started immediately; no rest for anyone until the lights are out." He began leading the girls down a hallway with Marco commenting on the sly.

"I heard the first girl to get checked in gets her own room." This caused the girls to immediately scamper forward in a mess with Gemini and the guards trying to keep them in line.

"Respect the que girls, respect the que!" As they wrangled the girls into order Marco and Star snuck off down one hallway unnoticed with Marco commenting.

"I have a bad feeling about this Star, I recognize this atmosphere from certain movies." Star chuckled and checked around a corner before giving him the go ahead responding quietly.

"Oh don't be so worried, this is nothing like my grandma told me it was. This is nothing more than a high security finishing school by the looks of things. Breaking Ponyhead out is going to be a breeze." Marco looked at her disturbed before commenting.

"How can you not sense when something is not right Star; I thought you were sensitive to that kind of stuff." Star shrugged nonchalantly as they moved quickly.

"This is all just an atmosphere they are using to intimidate the princesses into submission so they can help them out. Look." Star pointed to where what seemed to be a fat princess was standing with her back to them out in a meadow like courtyard.

Next to her were a pair of deer and a woman coaching her in singing while a bird was sitting on a branch looking down on her. As they watched the bird lifted off and landed on the girl's finger with her acting like someone would in a play as the coach started singing. As they watched they girl seemed to eat the bird, hard to tell as her back was turned, making the coach cluck her tongue in disappointment before speaking.

"Guess we will do this again then, we are not leaving until you get this right." Marco looked at Star in shock as Star raised her eyebrow at him before speaking.

"Honestly, these girls can benefit from this kind of training; I mean who just eats a random animal when in the middle of singing class?" She led Marco along with him nodding reluctantly as they came along a dormitory area and looked along for Ponyhead. Glancing into the first room Star smiled and chuckled. "You know, these are some pretty luxurious rooms. The floral ornamentation on the armoire is stunning, the spacious chamber to allow plenty of room is nothing like a prison cell, and that bed has enough velvet for me to make a cocoon! In fact, were it not for the fact I would be taken away from earth, I might ask my parents if I could go here to finish up training." Star was really eager at all this to the point where Marco had to pull her aside speaking to her seriously.

"Star, don't get distracted; we need to find Ponyhead." Marco pulled Star along going from room to room searching for Ponyhead. After a few minutes of searching, and occasionally hiding from security guards, Star heard a psst from Marco who was unlocking one of the dormitory doors. "In here Star." Star come over with Marco closing the door behind her whispering to who she thought was Ponyhead.

"Hey Ponyhead, we are here to get you out of here. All we need to do is destroy that tower and crystal so we…" Star stopped however when she finally saw Ponyhead. Ponyhead had her face heavily done up in makeup and her mane done in a braid, both completely unlike her. She was also giving this big creepy smile as she floated by the window seemingly doing nothing at all. "Um Ponyhead, are you alright?" Ponyhead turned to Star and spoke in a strangely methodical and high class voice completely unlike her.

"Good afternoon Star, I must abstain from escaping as it is unrefined. Have you come to visit me?" Star turned towards Marco with a question on her face and Marco responding.

"I got this Star. Hey Earth turd has come to visit you miss pony." Ponyhead only giggled at that and replied cheerily.

"That kind of language belongs in the sewers of Dunkirk." Marco's face fell as he took a few steps back before speaking.

"Ok, this is not normal or comforting. I think they brainwashed her Star. We need to get her out of her and get her help." As Marco spoke Ponyhead interjected in the conversation.

"Would you care for some crumpets?" Star immediately nodded liking her lips as Marco face palmed.

"Star, now is not the time for eating. You need to gag Ponyhead so she won't scream while we're running away in her current state. I have an idea that might buy us some time." Star nodded reluctantly and as Marco put something together with random junk Star magiced up something to silence Ponyhead. "Ok, let's get…" As they spoke a strange alarm sounded off nearby making them both dive behind the door looking out a small window on it to see one of the guards looking around in suspicion holding some sort of tracking device. "Wait, can magic be detected by mundane items?" Star shivered holding her wand close as she replied.

"Yes depending on the amount of magic and the distance from it to the device." Marco peaked out the window again to see the guard had gone into one of the rooms giving them an opening.

"Let's go Star, while we have the chance." They silently opened the door and closed it behind them moving along the hallway as silently as possible until Ponyhead began murmuring through her gag. "Can you keep her quite Star?"

"Who's there?" Marco clamped his hand over his mouth as he led Star down hallways as fast as possible.

"Marco, where are we going?" Star whispered to him with Marco replying as quietly as possible.

"I don't know, but we need to keep undetected." They dodged down another hallway with the footsteps of someone right behind them until they came into a big room full of princesses.

"Keep your pinkies at 90 degrees, more tea please. Keep your pinkies at 90 degrees, more tea please. Keep your pinkies at 90 degrees, more tea please." The group stopped and stared in shock at what they saw.

The princesses were all seated at tables holding full tea cups and practicing etiquette when it came to drinking tea. That would not be creepy except for the fact that the princesses were doing the same practice over and over in perfect synchronization. Star and Marco shuddered at how the group here seemed equivalent to mindless zombies in how stiff and unmoving they were in their practice. Marco and Star stared in horror for a few seconds as the princesses repeated the same movement and words perfectly until Ponyhead stared to say it through her gag. Marco turned to Star who had a terrified look on her face as she finally began rubbing her tail before speaking.

"This is word for word exactly as one of the stories my grandmother told me. The reforms were just a cover, it's just as bad as she said it was." Star huddled slightly holding onto Ponyhead. "And to think I willingly wanted to go here." Marco heard the guard coming and pulled both Star and Ponyhead under one of the tables as he entered the room. Looking around in confusion he walked through the room with Marco turning to Star speaking to her calmly and quietly.

"Star, we can't lose focus now of all times. Whatever you do don't use any magic as that will draw the heat down on us. I think I can come up with a distraction that will help us, but you need to be ready to bolt at a seconds notice." Star looked up nodding and shaking herself off. Marco smiled and came out from underneath the table picking up a tea cup. "IT'S NOT CRIMINAL TO BE AN INDIVIDUAL!" Marco threw his cup at the guard staining his suit and making the guard blink in shock at Marco. Silence pervaded the room for a solid minute as every just tried coming to terms with what had happened until a four armed princess looking a bit like a humanoid sheep stood up and threw fours cups of tea yelling out.

"It's not criminal, to be an individual!" As she did so more princesses stood up and threw tea cups at the guard making him balk under shattered porcelain and scalding tea. As Marco and Star ran from the scene Ponyhead spoke up.

"Tee hee, he got scalded." Marco and Star smiled at this knowing Ponyhead was still in there.


	34. St Olga's Pt 2

"What, an uprising in my school?" Ms. Heinous looked down at Gemini and two worried guards in annoyance as she made up her mind. "Put the school on full lock down, we will quell this uprising in its infancy. Quell… is that a soft word?" Gemini shrugged and took out a thesaurus handing it to Ms. Heinous. "Thank you, now please get to work; I will be there shortly to check up on your efforts."

* * *

Star and Marco were moving fast through the hallways as the guards seemed to be onto them and were trying to ambush them. Marco pointed down one hallway to a set of double doors with the both of them going down there and shutting the doors behind them. Working almost comedicly fast they pushed stuff up against the door as fists began beating on it. The two dove for cover and a few seconds after they finished hiding the doors were broken down with the guards spilling in and encircling a curtain with Star's boots poking out from underneath it. Chuckling in victory, they pulled back the curtain to reveal just a pair of boots making them groan in defeat before turning around and heading out. As they did so Marco leapt from the drapes to the ground where his poufy princess dress had actually camouflaged him. Star dropped from her grapple position on the ceiling landing on her feet still holding Ponyhead and smiled in satisfaction and kissing her bicep. Marco chuckled slightly and led the trio out and through the hallway avoiding contact with the guards.

* * *

"We have stifled the rebellion; soon the ones who started this will be found and put in the solitary conformant chamber to be 'reeducated'." Ms. Heinous nodded in approval as she looked around at the princesses being showed back to their rooms and locked in. "I can assure you we will find them and have them turn out just like Princess Ponyhead here, a rebellious brat turned model stu.." As Gemini leaned on Ponyhead's door however it creaked open softly prompting both him and Miss Heinous to enter. "This door should be locked." Ms. Heinous looked at him in annoyance as she spoke.

"Thank you for the obvious observation. What is going on here?" As she looked around her annoyed look got even deeper. Instead of Ponyhead there was a watering can on a rope with some extra candles and rope acting like her braided mane. Next to it was a small sign saying 'The Butterflys send their regards'. At this Ms. Heinous growled in frustration before speaking. "Damn her… damn that Moon Butterfly and her free thinking ways. First she draws the ire of the cosmos upon this school forcing it to compromise and now sends in infiltrators to interfere my work. I will stifle whoever she has sent and send a message to her that this will not be tolerated. Hm, stifle is not a soft word either." Gemini looked up in concern as Ms. Heinous composed herself and nodded to Gemini. "Secure the princesses I will lead the hunt for the infiltrators myself." Gemini watched her go and sighed to himself in worry.

* * *

Marco and Star are running through the hallways as silently as possible trying to find a way out of the school building itself with little success. As they turned a corner Marco blinked as he recognized the area they had been at a few minutes ago with Star commenting on that.

"Ok, if we are running around in circles I am going to shoot something." Marco groaned in frustration and turned back the way they came speaking to Star.

"If we turn the opposite direction from where we came from we should get somewhere new." Star looked at him in concern as Marco groaned in annoyance. "Do you have any better id…" Barking interrupted their conversation making Star grab Marco and pull him along with Ponyhead before speaking.

"Run now talk later." Star dragged Marco on a wild ride as they tried to hide from the dog with Marco commenting on this.

"Um Star, I don't think we can elude a dog for long given how it can follow us by smell. We need a place to temporarily hide like… a laundry shoot; look for one of those." Star blinked in confusion but followed Marco's command looking for a place to escape quickly while avoiding the hunters.

The duo ran quickly through twisting corridors seemingly losing the hunters and in the process got to one of the courtyards with plant life in them like with the singing princess. Seeing no guards they charged forward only for Marco to fall flat on his face prompting a chuckle from Ponyhead that gave Star hope, until she saw the vines climbing up Marco's leg. Repressing a shriek Star leapt forward and uprooted the plant in a single tug with the plant somehow giving a strange moan-like shriek as if it was in pain. Marco got up confused as Star got into a fighting stance looking around the garden in fear with her shushing Marco when he went to speak. Motioning for him to move Marco began stepping cautiously with Star across the garden as they anticipated anything springing up an attacking. As they got close to the other side Marco felt something grab his leg making him on reflex turn and chop with his hand.

His hand connected but bounced right off the tough vine that was growing around his leg now prompting him to grab at the plant and tug HARD. The vine seemed to give off a groan of pain as Marco tugged with several more vines sprouting up and going after Marco, some of which had thorns on them that were dripping with something. Repressing a girly scream Marco tugged harder on the vine with Star helping him out by pulling him back and uprooting the vines. At this vines seemed to be springing up everywhere with Star muttering "screw this, Dragon's Breath!" She shot out a cone of flame from her wand that began burning the garden with it shrieking in agony. Knowing their location was given away by this, Marco grabbed Star and pulled her a little ways with Star stopping him. As Marco turned she gave him her wand, wrapped up in some cloth, and spoke to him deathly serious.

"Marco, they are going to find us eventually even if we find a place to lay low. I'm far faster than you are and can keep them running around in circles for longer so I will distract them. You find a way to destroy that crystal, keep them from getting my family's wand, hopefully free the other princesses, and get us out of here. Oh and find me if you think I have been captured and get me out of there. Can you do that?" Marco looked into her eyes which were now borderline blue-green and was about to argue with her but the sound of barking convinced him they were out of time. Sighing he reached into his pocket and pulled out the bobby pin handing it to Star before speaking.

"Take this, and at least try to break yourself out." Star nodded with him pulling her into a tight hug. "Just remember, I will not leave you behind ever so don't you dare lose hope."

 ***Throb*** Star felt her heart do the same thing it had done a few times in the past as she hugged him back. This time however it seemed to give her strength as they parted feeling tears in her eyes as she nodded to him. With the barking getting closer the two took off in separate directions with Marco taking Ponyhead with him because she would lsow Star down and to hopefully find a way to undo the brainwashing that has happened to her. Not two minutes after parting however Marco found a dumbwaiter like elevator that he could use to go up. Cursing silently that he had found it when he was not with Star he got in and made it go up holding onto Ponyhead and the wand tightly.

* * *

Heinous looked down only barely controlling her panting at the now captured infiltrator that she recognized from the new arrivals. However she could not shake the feeling she had seen her from even before then, or at least heard a description of her from somewhere. Five guards surrounded the lizard girl who, with her hands up in the air, appeared like she had surrendered to them. Heinous knew better then to take it at face value given the way her eyes were subtly darting around looking for an exit. However, she decided to honor the girls surrender for now and spoke to her in a commanding voice.

"Why did Moon send you?" The girl looked up at her blinking in confusion. "We saw the sign you left in Princess Ponyhead's room, now tell us why did Moon send you?" The girl spoke solemnly to her.

"She didn't send me; she doesn't even know I am here." Heinous blinked slightly before finally recognizing the heart marks on her cheeks making her smile slightly before speaking.

"You are Star Butterfly aren't you?" The girl nodded with Heinous suppressing a feeling of unwarranted triumph. "So why did you come here?" Star kept eye contact with Heinous in a meek manner as she answered.

"To check out your school to see if it was as bad as what my grandmother said it was and to see Ponyhead. Honestly, after taking a look around, I was considering asking my parents if I could come here." Heinous blinked in shock as she could sense, a trait she had gotten from years of working with brats, that Star wasn't telling the whole truth but she wasn't outright lying either. "And to answer your other question I don't know where Ponyhead is either, we got separated." Heinous rubbed her chin and motioned for Star to follow her, which she did, as she began speaking.

"Tell me, what do you think of your mother?" Star lowered her arms rubbing her upper arm as they walked.

"I love her, she cares for me like no one else does. She and my dad are always there whenever I have trouble with people." Heinous cocked her eyebrow at her and replied with an icy undertone.

"Trouble, as in your monstrous nature?" Star ducked her head shaking slightly before replying.

"Everyone hates me for what I was born as; I have done nothing to them." Heinous actually felt a tinge of pity for the girl as they walked with her tone going from accusing to neutral.

"Well it is natural for you to have a lot of prejudice because of your mother's actions and your father's heritage. But I think I can actually help you with that." Star looked up at Heinous with confusion and… 'Do I see hope in her eyes?' Heinous thought to herself in shock. If the girl was looking for advice from someone who had captured her she must be desperate. "If you act the part of a perfect princess everyone's accusations will count for nothing as you bear none of your predecessors problems. If anything the accusations will only strengthen support for you as you rise above them." Star's face turned away slightly as she replied softly.

"I actually asked that question once. But… my mother said…" Heinous cut her off as they were approaching their destination swiftly.

"And you believe what the woman who threw her kingdom under the carriage just so she could follow some lustful desires to be with a Monster would say?" Star ducked her head even more as Heinous softened a little. "I apologize; I let emotions rule my head. Your mother has made life for me incredibly difficult ever since she ascended as queen and it blurs my judgement at times; my greatest flaw at the moment. I will help you ascend over her to be greater than her and above those who dare look down on a princess." The reached their destination at that point with Heinous opening a door pointing into it. Star realized then what was going on when she looked inside the room and took a step back with Heinous shaking her finger at her. "No my girl, do you think you have a choice?" Two of the guards grabbed her and pulled her into the room as Heinous spoke after her. "I also know you were a distraction girl, I wasn't born yesterday. I will find your friends and bring them here as well; and you will thank me for what I am about to do to you, you know this to be true."

* * *

Marco pulled himself out of the now stalled and unmoving elevator into what seemed to be a tower storage closet pulling Ponyhead behind him. Taking a quick look around he didn't see any doors in the room though he did see a window which he promptly ran to take a look around. He was quickly able to identify the tower with the crystal, due to some strange lights coming from it, and saw a way he could plot to get to it if he could even get the elevator moving again. At this point the idea of Star being hunted and might have even have been caught already invaded his mind; and what they were going to do to her… He glanced at Ponyhead with a shiver going up his spine as he moved over and grabbed onto her shaking the head about.

"Snap out of it Ponyhead, earth turd needs help finding Star, getting her help, and getting all of us home. I can't do this alone." Ponyhead shook her head and spoke calmly.

"Those in need of help shall be aided… in the solitary conformant chamber." Marco let go of Ponyhead feeling despair creep in as he spoke in defeat.

"So… this is how it ends. Stuck in a tower with a brainwashed disembodied head, bearing a magical item I can't use, while crossdressing." He glanced around the tower seeing a few posters of perfect princesses with words over them. "Embrace a princess mentality, repress your individuality." Marco gritted his teeth picking up a random broom that was lying around and began smacking it against the poster venting his frustration before he began ripping off the posters with his bare hands. Tears of rage and despair began coming down his face as he ripped at the posters and spoke softly, "I failed you Star, I failed you and I haven't even started yet." He finally collapsed to his knees with sobs wracking his body. As he sat there for an unknown length of time he heard a chuckling that sounded familiar making him look up in confusion that turned into hope. He saw Ponyhead using her horn to tear up some more posters as she laughed and undid her hair shaking off her makeup as well. Looking at Marco she shouted with triumph.

"They can't keep the pony down forever!" At that she felt arms wrap around her and Marco pulled her into a hug with him sobbing in relief. "Um earth turd, why are you acting so close like we are friends?" Marco stepped back trying to compose himself as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, I'm just actually happy to see you back to normal." Ponyhead blushed at the look on his face and words thinking to herself 'Wow, in addition and despite everything else that dork is surprisingly nice.' Shaking herself off Ponyhead spoke quickly.

"Aren't you going to look for Star and make good on the promise you made to me back at the crystal arcade?" Marco shook himself off and spoke with determination.

"Of course I am, let's find Star and bust her out of here! Now any idea on how we get out of this tower, the only way out is stalled." He pointed to the elevator but Ponyhead simply chuckled before speaking.

"I have a way out that's even faster than the elevator." She scooped him up with her horn and flew out the window with Marco gaping slightly. "You know, pink is definitely your color and you pull off the ponytail quite nicely." Marco chuckled and responded softly.

"Yeah, I guess it is and I do."

* * *

Star was in an internal debate as she was strapped into a chair and the guards left the room leaving only a screen to project images on. Heinous was clearly evil and she said horrible things about her mom not to mention she was going after Marco now which Star had hoped to prevent. But as she got the bobby pin out with her teeth to pick the locks on her chair she was hesitating as another thought swirled around her head. People wanted her dead because of how she was born, but if she was a perfect princess she would be beyond reproach. She would lose her individuality, to an extent, but she would be secure from the threats of the nobility in the kingdom for good; clearing up a lot of trouble for her mother and herself down the line. As she hesitated a mechanical piece came down from the ceiling bearing a stereotypical princess cone hat which rested on her head making her drop the bobby pin. Gasping slightly something was injected into her neck from the hat as small gripping arms came down to her face opening her eyes forcefully as images were shown on the screen with a voice narrating them.

"The proper hat for the event, lest you be in malcontent."

"Many a people will admire, the princess the does not perspire."

"Tis better to be fussy, then to be called a hussy."

As Star watched the images flashed by in a strangely hypnotic pattern feeling a cool soothing numbing sensation spread from the injection point. Behind a protective glass screen Heinous smiled and watched as Gemini monitored the progress on a computer screen. Turning to Heinous he smiled and spoke in triumph.

"She seems to be giving in already; the new mixture of drugs combined with the slide show seems to be doing the trick." Heinous nodded and chuckled speaking softly.

"It's not just that, she is not sure if she truly wants to fight it. I placed enough doubt in her mind to leave her vulnerable; unless if she did it to herself in the past. But still, well done Gemini." She reached over and pet his head with Gemini smiling and pushing his head into her hand.


	35. St Olga's Pt 3

**I know this is really late in the story to be starting this, but I am going back to doing music in my work like I did in "A Tale of Moon and Monsters". When you see the youtube link and video/music name go to it and start the music. When you see the words (end music) stop the music and continue reading. Now this is completely optional but I find music helps to build atmosphere for the situation so I recommend listening to it.**

 **Oh, and one more thing; if you like it tell me and I will see if I can incorporate music into earlier chapters; I actually have some pieces in mind for some scenes.**

Along the dormitory hallway princesses were poking tin cups out of small windows on their doors and smacking them on anything they could reach. As they did so they chanted 'It's not criminal to be an individual' over and over again, with very few if any of the princesses sitting out of the protest. A few guards were walking down the hallway in a patrol fashion not bothering to stop the protest as it seemed that they would not be able to really make an impact with their few numbers. The rest were out looking for the other rabble-rousers scouring the whole school as best they could. As the few patrolled through the hallway however one of them suddenly noticed one of their few numbers was missing and let the commander know about it.

"Um sir, Michael in missing." The commander looked around and blew a whistle to rally the guards seeing that two additional guards were missing as well and spoke in an exasperated fashion.

"*groan* Seriously, are they slacking off. Find the three and get them patrolling now." The group dispersed with the commander rubbing his face in annoyance. "Now is not the time to be taking a break with the way infiltrators are running amoke and…" He stopped speaking however when one of the guards robotic heads rolled in front of him. "…could be right under our very noses." He pulled his whistle out and blew it to rally the guards with fewer showing up then they did even a few seconds ago. "The rabble rousers are here, circle formation and…" He stopped again but this time it was because of a long iron candle stick impaling him through the chest making him short out and fall to the ground.

The others turned to where the candle stick had been thrown and saw Marco and Ponyhead staring them down with murder on their faces. As the remaining guards charged multiple princesses leapt at them from behind beating down several allowing Ponyhead and Marco to engage from the front. Marco tripped one guard with a low kick and locked the arm behind another shoving him into a door with enough force to detach the arm. Marco finished off the two with Ponyhead shooting out lasers to confuse four more guards before charging in and impaling three before the last one finally got his senses about him. As he turned and ran to warn of the uprising a pixie princess blasted out of her cell and shot the head clean off the running guard. Ponyhead smiled in satisfaction seeing the other guards had been wiped out and more princesses were breaking free giving them a sizable force. Marco stepped up beside her and spoke slightly winded.

"I would say let's get the crystal down but we need to find Star first. Do you have any idea where the Solitary conformant chamber is?" Ponyhead smiled and went to nod before her face fell.

"Uh… no not really no." Marco groaned in frustration as princesses began gathering around him with the four armed sheep girl speaking up.

"Who are you fiercesome princess?" Shouts of accompaniment filled the hall as Ponyhead answered them.

"This is Princess Turdina." Marco looked at Ponyhead in frustration before speaking to the princesses.

"Yes, my name is Marcia Turdina and my individuality will not be crushed; and neither should yours." The princesses cheered him on as Marco continued. "But before we break out my best friend, Star Butterfly, is in the solitary conformant chamber and I need to rescue here. Do any of you know where that is?" The princesses whispered amongst themselves clearly recognizing the name Star.

"The half-blooded princess."

"The rebel queen's daughter is here?"

"I wonder if I could get to see Queen Moon."

"Star is so lucky to have her as mother."

Marco groaned over the princesses' fangirlisim until one, a human like girl with purple hair looking to be about 8 years old stepped forward and spoke.

"Um, no one knows where the room is. It's a closely guarded secret from outsiders and princesses don't remember where it is after they come back." Marco sighed but stopped as the girl took out a slip of paper. "I could use a spell to find it but I have no magic to power it." Marco then glanced at the cloth bundle containing Star's wand and unwrapped it with Ponyhead speaking.

"Oh no, that is a bad idea; and that's coming from me." As Marco pulled out the wand he retorted to Ponyhead.

"We are running out of options here and Star may not have much time." He pulled the wand out of the cloth with nothing happening for a second.

Everyone looked on in confusion until a cold blast of wind hit everyone and an eerie light emanated from the wand with Marco shaking as he held it in place. After a few seconds however everything stopped and the wand now had a light grey haft about a foot long with two spiked turquoise circles on the main part of the wand. On the main area was an upward pointing spike like a dagger with two bat wings sprouting from it and a pink diamond crystal at the center of the two circles. Everyone gasped as they recognized what that was given its ability to transform and how Marco had pulled it out when it was said magic had to be used. He turned back to the girl and spoke.

"Hold up the spell so I can read it." She unraveled the paper and held it up with Marco reading it holding the wand in both hands. " _Open up a pathway up for me, lead me to where I need to be! Discover where I must go, no matter how fierce the foe!_ " As Marco spoke the spell his cheeks gained glowing crescent moon marks on them with the wand gathering energy. As he held it forward a blast of power came from the wand taking form like that of a giant horned stag ready to run. Marco, with the moon marks fading, then read the next part of the spell and spoke, "Take me to Star Butterfly!" The stag nodded and started running with Marco following. As he did so he yelled back at the crowd watching him with open eyes. "Follow me fellow princesses!" The princesses gave cheer and rushed forward eager to help their savior should anyone stand in their way chanting "Turdina, Turdina, Turdina". At this Marco thought to himself 'I don't know whether I should laugh at the name Ponyhead gave me or get mad.' "Don't worry Star, we're coming."

* * *

"A princess must always maintain her composure and keep her voice soft." Star twitched in her chair as the slideshow continued with Heinous chuckling behind the safety glass.

"So what is this Gemini, the fastest any princess has been retempered?" Gemini nodded before replying.

"She should be completely remade in a few more minutes Head mistress; I dare say this is record that could change the way people…" Before he finished however there was a knock on the door to the observation room with one of the guards bursting in.

"Miss Heinous, the princesses have broken out of their rooms and are charging in this direction. They are being led by a magic wielding princess by the name of Marcia Turdina. We are trying to stop them but nothing is slowing them down and we are taking heavy casualties!" Miss Heinous was blank with shock before she responded in a calm manner.

"Call up the reserves, every single guard that can be called up will be called up. Guard this room, the main offices, and the Tremorfidian crystal at all costs. Call for reinforcements from the kingdoms who have princesses here and tell them their daughters are uprising and need to be brought into line." The guard nodded and ran off shutting the door behind him. "Bar the door Gemini, I will have no one interfering with this one in particular." Heinous looked down at Star who's skin was turning white, her cheek marks were disappearing, and her eyes were going a dull greyish-green.

* * *

Star was floating in a strange void that was both alien yet comforting for her seeing nothing yet she knew her eyes were wide open. She could float in this realm forever and it felt like nothing bad would happen to her; a dark void where she would be alright. All Star had to do was let go of everything, hold onto nothing and she would be free to float here forever. Smiling slightly she felt memories and times slip out of her grasp and into the void and looked down to see herself turning into what seemed to be a full blooded Mewman. Sighing in relif she just let herself be taken thinking 'I am not a burden anymore; I can help people instead of being a burden.' Her family, her friends, everyone who had been kind to her had sacrificed so much at times; it was time she sacrificed for them.

 **Sabaton Resist and Bite ( watch?v=u0HtxsWaP-o)**

"No!" Star blinked slightly as a deep male voice rang out in the void. "You dare to give up now after all they have sacrificed for you." Star looked out speaking softly in a princess fashion.

"I am doing this for the good of many, let myself be bound to others might live happily." The voice chuckled as it spoke to her.

"Living is hard and people will lose much standing up for you at times; do you think they want you to give in like this." As Star watched a very tall and very muscular figure emerged from the void with a flowing blond beard, receding hairline, and icy blue eyes staring at Star deeply. "I helped your mother and father start a rebellion so no one would have to be a pawn of the Shadow Clause making the ultimate sacrifice. And frankly I don't what happened to me as long as my precious Moon was alright." Star blinked as she finally recognized him from descriptions and artworks feeling her memories come back to her.

"Grandpa Odrick? But… you're dead." He chuckled as he continued.

"Aye, but just a wee bit as I still have some purpose here, not sure what though." His face got serious again as he continued. "Anyways, are you really going to give in now to despair after all these years when your knight has finally presented himself?" Before Star could stop them memories of her times with Marco flew by. Their various adventures, the trauma Marco helped Star through, even every single friendship Thursday they shared together since the shadows attacked. "He means a lot to you doesn't he, do you really want to repay his kindness by becoming a blank slate? The boy who means everything to you?" Star felt a fire burn in her that kept on getting stronger as she replied.

"No." Star felt another emotion stir up as well, something… powerful.

"Then don't give in. Keep fighting for your parents who want you to be free and happy! Do it for your friends who want you to be you! And most of all, do it for Marco!" She felt the emotion grow stronger and stronger until she couldn't' fight what it was. "Do it! For! The one! You! LOVE!"

Star's vision cleared now with her seeing the room she was thrown in with yellow-red veined eyes and began pulling at her bonds fiercely like feral animal would. After a few seconds of this she worked one her hands enough to squeeze it out, breaking the hand in the process. Hissing in pain Star healed the hand and undid the belt that held her waist down. She then reached up and pulled off the hat on her head and the arms keeping her eyes open with a sound of shrieking metal. She then reached over and, using her body's full strength, ripped off the other clasp throwing it to the side. Finally she grabbed the chair she was sitting in and ripped it out of the floor throwing it through the safety glass overlooking her treatment. Taking a second to catch her breath she leapt up through the safety glass and looked over Heinous and Geminin who were now looking at her in fear as they backed up against the door leading out of the room.

"No, shoo shoo; down girl." Heinous spoke in a fearful manner as Gemini pointed out something.

"Miss Heinous, your cheeks!" Star blinked in confusion despite the feral rage at the fact that two shamrocks, or maybe club symbols found on deck cards, appeared in a dark grey color. Heinous noticed this and began to panic.

"No NO! YOU SAW NOTHING!" She leapt down into the room and began exposing herself to treatment. "A princess always maintians the proper posture." Star turned to Gemini growling with Gemini scrabbling at the door for a second before Star grabbed him and tossed him aside.

"Let. Me. OUT!" Star grabbed the door and pulled it so hard the handle ripped off allowing Star to smash the door open.

* * *

"Nacho Shard Rain!" Marco pointed the wand shooting out a hail of sharpened nacho chips that shredded right through a rank of guards.

He stopped and panted after running for so long and looked back at the princesses still following him. Several of the princesses had spilt off to go to different parts of the school to collect items from the school vault, distract guards, and destroy certain things they had vendettas against. He smiled at the memory of seeing some princesses burning down one of the garden courtyards with the plants screaming in agony. Those that were left were smashing apart guards as he watched with vicious efficiency that made him marvel at how good they were at fighting. As he watched the sheep girl grabbed two guards and slammed their heads together making both heads roll, the young girl climbed up the back of one to stab something into the neck joint, the pixie blasted the head off of two at once, and a rat princess had bit the arms off of one making him run away in fear. Marco chuckled as he went back to following the stag which, as he watched, smashed through a trio of the guards leaving them dazed and confused. Rounding a corner Marco saw the stag pawing at a door before dispersing with Marco giving out a shout of triumph before yelling out to the princesses.

"I found her, rendezvous at the Tremorfidian crystal tower!" He turned back to the door raising the wand. "Now let's get you out of…" As he watched the door was smashed open from the inside so hard it fell off its hinges. "… there?" Marco watched as Star emerged with red-veined yellow cat pupiled eyes indicating she was suffering from a PTSD flashback.

"Um, what's going on with Star?" Marco looked over his shoulder to see Ponyhead looking on in concern. Before he could answer a group of guards were coming up from further down the hallway with Star looking directly at Marco before speaking slowly.

"Marco?" Marco looked down the hallway and realizing there was no time to snap Star out of her state, got an idea.

"Star, those guys are coming to hurt me! HELP!" Star looked to where Marco was pointing seeing the guards coming up and growled a challenge.

"LEAVE MARCO ALONE!" Star leapt at them screeching and began ripping them limb from limb with both Marco and Ponyhead watching the carnage nervously. As the dust cleared Star ran up to Marco grabbing him in a protective and possessive hug. "MY MARCO! No one touches him!" Marco reached up and began rubbing Star's head while speaking soothingly to her.

"It's ok Star, you can come back now; everything is ok." After doing this for a few minutes, with a crowd of princesses gathering behind them, Star finally calmed down enough to go back to normal. She grabbed on to Marco sobbing silently as everyone averted their eyes. "Are you ok Star?" Star looked up at him nodding her head before speaking.

"Yes. *sniff* Can we go home now?" Marco nodded and led the way with the princesses following closely. "Ponyhead, you're back to normal!" Star grabbed onto Ponyhead as they ran with Ponyhead chuckling before she answered.

"Of course I am, you think I was gonna let Princess Marcia Turdina do all the work alone." Star cocked her a confused expression as they parted. "It's a long story." After a few more turns they finally reached the courtyard with the crystal bearing tower. The princesses charged forward as a wave of guards came out from all around them looking to stop them from doing anything to the tower. Marco stepped up and handed the wand to Star before speaking.

"I think you might want this back." Star took it with the wand going back to normal. "Sorry, I was running out of options in finding you." Star smiled before hugging him again and replying.

"Oh don't worry about that, thank you for being there for me." The crowd gave an 'awwww' of happiness in the middle of the fight as Marco blushed slightly before Star pulled back. "Now to get us out of here, Raspberry Panzer Blast!" Star aimed her wand up at the tower with a rocket missile going out and striking the tower making it rock back and forth dangerously.

"Ok, I think you got it Star!" Marco yelled in shock as everyone dove out of the way as the tower fell, shattering on the ground. As Marco and Star looked up from their dodge they saw the princesses partying now with lights coming up from the tower like fireworks. "Oh, now that is a victory party if I ever saw one." Ponyhead was rocking out next to the duo as she turned to them and began speaking.

"Yeah, now this is my kind of party. I know you had plans for today gurl but they got nothing on this party going on right now." Star got up looking at Ponyhead in confusion.

"But… it's your birthday day."

"Yeah gurl, and you got me the best birthday gift ever, getting me my groove back. Now I need to make sure no one else suffers the same fate I did." She turned to Marco speaking happily. "And thank you for doing all this Princess Turdina, you ain't so bad. Want me to bite some guards on their faces for you?" Marco put his hands on his hips and moved like a sassy lady as he spoke.

"Gurl, get on with your bad self." Ponyhead chuckled before they head butted with Ponyhead flying off. "You know what Star, I think Ponyhead and I are friends now; not sure though." Star squeed in glee and grabbed onto Marco hugging him tightly.

"I knew you two would become friends. Now can we get out of here?" Marco nodded with Star opening up a portal with the scissors sending the two back home to Star's room. **(end music)** They just sat there panting for a minute with Marco finally turning to Star with a question.

"Say, how did you manage to overcome the conformation process that broke Ponyhead for a while?" Star thought back to what had happened in that dream like state and did not getting many memories but some overall feelings. At this she felt lightheaded sitting down before answering.

"I'm… not sure; I don't really remember what happened in there. And… I'm not sure if I want to remember." Marco smiled taking out the special comb and began combing Star's hair. "Oh Marco, you know just what to do don't you." Star purred slightly pushing into the comb as Marco chuckled before a phone ring interrupted them. Marco went over to his phone and looked at it going pale faced before speaking.

"*Gahhh* I forgot about my date with Jackie tonight! Sorry Star I got to run!" He paused looking into the mirror and the dress and ponytail he had on. "No time, this will have to do." Marco ran out with Star chuckling after him ***Throb pang*** Star felt the now familiar sensation, except it now had a sharp jab in it that left her feeling hurt on the inside. She shook her head and went downstairs to get some foo not wanting no more excitement or questions for the day. After eating to her hearts content she curled up on her bed after stripping off her clothes despite the fact that it was only 7:15pm. Nacho leapt up onto the bed with her and curled up allowing Star to grab onto him and cuddle him liek a teddy bear.

* * *

"…and if your elbows are on the table you belong in the stable. All better." Heinous sighed as she felt her cheeks had gone back to normal. She looked down at the floor seeing the bobby pin and picked it up looking at it in suspicion.

As she got up and left the room she saw the school was clearly lost at this point given the number of shattered guards and the damages done. Ignoring all this, and planning on how to regain it, Heinous walked calmly to the library looking for the needed book on metallurgy. Looking through the book she found the proper formula and whipped up a potion which she promptly inserted the bobby pin into making it turn green. Look over the guidelines of the potion of identification she discovered that the origin was the Terra Dimension. Smiling she spoke calmly.

"So that is where you are at 'Marcia Turdina'. I will find you and see you annihilated." She gasped at the word she just used and smiled. "Annihilate, that's the word I've been looking for!"

* * *

A figure wearing gold, green, and purple armor and a ragged lilac cloak hacked his way through a swamp with his long platinum blond hair lying limp due to the moisture. Coming upon a tree with nine trunks he looked up with his one good purple eye while he scratched at the left eye, which had an eyepatch over it. As he approached the tree an arrow landed not one foot in front of him as two figures came out of the brush to threaten him. As they approached him though they stopped and stared at him as if they had seen a ghost. Smiling pleasantly he spoke in a melodic hypnotizing voice to the two warriors.

"I wish to see your war chief Mavis, as I am sure she will be very interested in seeing me." One of the guards outright dropped his weapon as he spoke.

"It can't be! You're alive Lord Mildrew?"

 **That was... a lot to unpack. But no time to rest; we have a "School Trip" to go out on after all.**


	36. School Trip Pt 1

**Miss Frizzle: I think its time for a... field trip!**

 **WH:... how did you get in here? *Hears the magic school bus honk its horn at me* Of course, that was a stupid question. Enjoy the episode folks.**

Mavis was sitting in the common area hanging her head in exasperation as she looked over her warriors; or more accurately the excuses for them. They had lost every single engagement with Star since she had come to earth and the duo seemed to be getting stronger faster than her group was. Looking out over her warriors she could see they were feeling the strain too. Some were silently trying to drown their sorrows in various alcohols, some were engaging in half-hearted feats of strength to distract themselves, and others were busying themselves with work to a relentless degree in order to not face the facts. As she did so she felt a hand on each shoulder and looked behind herself to see Dumnorix and Selene there showing support as best they could. Mavis sniffed slightly taking a swig of some swamp water, gagging at the taste, and smiled at them with a tear in her eye as she spoke.

"Thanks guys, it's nice to see you are here for me." Selene grabbed her in a hug with Dumnorix lifting them both in a hug as he spoke… as softly as he could manage.

"We will succeed eventually; one way or another. If we lose hope we lose any chance whatsoever no matter how slight it may be." Selene chuckled and spoke… as nicely as she could.

"We must push forward with an indomitable will, nothing will break us. We just need one lucky break." Mavis laughed at the two as they separated from her with a messenger coming into the room speaking excitedly.

"Warchief, someone is here to see you!" Everyone in the room looked up with Mavis groaning as she replied.

"I am not interested in joining the Clubertran gang; we are fighting for the good of Mewni not for our own selfish desires."

"*amused chuckling*Then it seems I have come to the right place." A melodic voice filled the hall with everyone perking up in confusion with Mavis having a look of disbelief on her face as she spoke.

"It… can't be…" A figure stepped into the room with Mavis giving a smile and screamed in joy. "LORD MILDREW!" The surrounding warriors gaped in shock as Mavis ran up and embraced Lord Mildrew in front of everyone with him chuckling. "We thought you were dead, taken by Toffee's hands." Mildrew looked over Mavis at the now smiling crowd.

"Reports of my demise were misinformed so to speak." The rest of the warriors gave out a cheer and surrounded Mildrew giving him slaps on the back and hearty welcomes by the group. As the excitement died down Dumnorix asked the question on everyone's minds.

"So Toffee missed you, how?" Mildrew chuckled and spoke in a relaxed tone with a bitter undertow to it.

"Oh he bloody did not, he got me good." Mildrew pointed to his eyepatch making everyone nod in respect. "But he failed to finish me off by just shoving me off a rampart thinking the fall would kill me. Biggest mistake he ever made." The group laughed with Selene asking the next question.

"Wait, why is it now that you show yourself after more than 20 years, and why do you come to us of all people? We are the least promising of the True Mewman freedom fighters." Everyone's smile did fall slightly and looked to Mildrew questioningly with him chuckling as he replied.

"I get your concern people, the reason why is because I am not making any mistakes here. If I had struck sooner Moon might have been anticipating me as my body was never recovered but now she has likely forgotten me. And I have come to your group as you seem to know where Star Butterfly and the magic wand are; get those and the crown is as good as ours." The group cheered as he continued. "I was waiting to see what your group is made out of also and I see that while powerful this Star seems to know how to counter you." The group nodded with their heads down cast. "But no matter, that is about to change. Time for me to analyze in detail you've really got and to help our future queen here win the throne and for us to retake Mewni." He motioned for Mavis with her blushing slightly and the group cheering.

* * *

The bus trundled along with the class of students that Marco and Star were in was going on a field trip of sorts that most were not looking forward to. This could be told by the way they were talking away on just about anything except for their destination. In particular Marco and Star were talking together in one seat of the bus looking over Marco's phone. Marco showed Star something with Star giggling and giving him a thumbs up as Marco sent a text. A few seconds later Jackie felt her phone ring and opened it up to see another kitty picture from Marco. She giggled slightly and looked in their direction giving him a thumb up and a blowing Marco a kiss with Marco catching it and applying it to his cheek. Jackie smiled and giggled but when his back was turned her face fell as she slumped back into the bus seat letting out a tired sigh. Janna, who was sitting next to her, turned on Jackie speaking to her.

"Ok, you have been playing along with Marco and sighing like that ever since we left school; you are either gonna tell me what's up or I am gonna drag it out of you." Jackie sighed and turned to Janna with a slightly strained look on her face.

"Marco wasn't late for another date three nights ago… he missed it completely." Janna blinked in shock as she responded.

"Well it was bound to happen sooner or later right; why are you so shocked." Jackie groaned in smacked her head on the seat in front of her.

"It's not that he missed it, it's why he missed it. He was out on one of Star's adventures and was actually the one who initiated it completely forgetting about it to help Star rescue her friend Ponyhead." Jackie pushed her head deeper into the seat as Janna began rubbing her back. "To make things worse he ran about town looking for me in a pink dress saying that he was my date. Not that I am against crossdressing but man if you were going to be that late the least you could have done is put on some normal clothes." Janna groaned in annoyance and pulled Jackie out of the chair and made her face her.

"Well I am not one to go to for romance advice, for obvious reasons, but I think you need to be more reasonable with him. The dress thing was just because he was late and didn't want to miss it entirely; and it did make for some interesting conversation at school." Janna chuckled before facing Jackie again speaking seriously. "Also, Marco has been trying to make up for it constantly in a paranoid state as he is afraid something is wrong with your relationship." Jackie perked up at that one with Janna elaborating. "He said nothing to me but Star told me that you guys have been growing distant with each other and doesn't know why. He's just trying to make it work and…" Janna froze at seeing Jackie's facial expression and spoke slowly. "Do you want it to work?" Jackie's face fell and she spoke softly.

"I don't know. Marco is a fantastic guy but I think I may not be in for this type of relationship that he wants. It feels a little bit… suffocating how he dotes on me yet distant at the same time for being with Star so frequently. Does that make any sense, feeling distant from yet suffocated by the guy you are with?" Janna shrugged as Jackie continued. "And as for the elephant in the room, I think Star is developing feelings for him and vice versa." Janna sat in shock as Jackie elaborated. "They may not realize it because of simply how close they are, like looking at an elephant through a microscope, but I can tell. And if they develop feelings for each other…" Janna went to interrupt as Jackie paused but she held up her finger to keep Janna quiet. "… I'm not gonna fight Star for him. Didn't you hear the rant she made at Brittany's party?" Janna shifted uncomfortably at that as Jackie continued. "If Marco seems to reciprocate her feelings I am not gonna take away what might be her only chance for happiness all things considered; I'm not a bitch." She then put her head in her hands. "Why did I have to ask him to become my boyfriend hours before I heard all that, and because I was worried about Star to begin with? Why oh why oh…" Janna put up her finger tweaking Jackie's nose making her look up in shock as Janna spoke.

"Get a grip girl, people make mistakes. If you are gonna beat yourself up over that you might as well just break up with him now." Jackie looked down somewhat ashamed with her words. "Just let things flow but don't stop putting effort in because if you don't the relationship is already dead. Marco cares about you so much and would do anything for you Jackie; well almost anything that is a rather vague term." The two chuckled as she continued. "So keep at it and don't give up, and if by chance they do realize their feeling s for each other than help steer them close to each other and be the wing-woman. Did I come up with a new term for picking up guys at the bar?" Jackie laughed outright at that as she replied back to Janna.

"Your right, I just keep on getting doubts about everything. Thanks for being there for me." Jackie leaned over and hugged Janna with Janna tentatively returning it. "Now that I think about it, Marco pulled off the dress really well. You think I should dress as a guy for one of our dates and make him wear the dress again?" Janna giggled in devilish delight as her mind went straight into the gutter.

"Oh, there are a lot more possibilities behind this then you might think." A buzz on her phone made Janna look at it and saw a text from Ferguson. _'Marco's got the scissors and the dummies are ready, the field trip is gonna be anything but boring.'_ "Nice." Janna turned back to Jackie and answered her unspoken question. "We are not going to 'stay' at the paperclip museum this time around." Jackie leaned in close intrigued.

"Do tell."

* * *

Star looked around blinking in interest at the pictures and sculptures of various paper clips adorning the walls and on stands in the museum. She knew the other students didn't like stuff like this but for her first time she was going to make the most of it and actually learn. She looked back at the group who were dragging their feet, literally, and had these blank expressions on their faces that screamed boredom. Star chuckled to herself as she faced back to where Mrs. Skullnick, their teacher, began talking about paper clips. 'Of course things are going to be boring if you go in anticipating them to be as such.' Star thought as she listened to Mrs. Skullnick. 'But even if it is boring can be good at times; it means you're safe and can relax.' She realized how depressing that must sound and shook her head slightly.

"You got something to say Star?" Star looked up to Mrs. Skullnick who was looking at her with an evil eye.

"Yes actually." Star replied. "Why was the paper clip invented in the first place. Seems like a very good invention." The class groaned at Star's question as Mrs. Skullnick blinked in confusion as she answered.

"We will be getting to that shortly in our history of the paper clip, a nifty invention that has helped more people then they care to realize." Star nodded and continued to pay attention while the rest of the class dozed off.

At the back of the group however Alfonzo, Jackie, Oskar, and several other kids formed a screen as Marco pulled out the dimensional scissors wrapping some saranwrap over them. Who would have guessed that saranwrap would actually muffle the sound of the cutting even if it was shredded after a single use. Marco motioned over to Janna and Ferguson who nodded and stepped through the portal into Ferguson's room where there was a large number of cloth dummies looking like the entire class in a single pile on top of a magic circle of sorts. Janna and Ferguson sprinkled some sort of liquid over the dummies, clasped a pair of hands, and held their free hand out speaking softly and clearly.

 **08 The Sorcerer's Apprentice [Paul Dukas] ( watch?v=Gkj2QeogAsU) (Start 2:14)**

"Animacus lifgius momentous!" The dummies seemed to shake as a light passed over them and began to move.

"We did it!" Janna pumped her fist with Ferguson chuckling as he replied.

"Well we did sow those things with infused cloth just to be sure; I would have been surprised if it hadn't worked honestly." The two fist bumped and led the dummies out seeing Marco had opened another portal.

Marco motioned for the class to slip in one by one as Ferguson and Janna let out their duplicate dummies that stood behind Star blankly. After about a minute of this or so the last dummy was out and Marco closed that portal with Janna and Ferguson slipping into the second one. As he got into the portal he saw Mrs. Skullnick and Star had not noticed anything and chuckled at how well he had pulled it off. **(end music)** Closing the portal behind him he looked around seeing the fantastic sights all around him with a look of awe on his face. That was short lived when the crowd of kids cheered for him and lifted him on their shoulders chanting "Marco! Marco! Marco!" He responded in an almost bashful fashion as they finally set him down.

"Ok guys I get it, the hero of the hour and everything, but let's not downplay out sorcerer's and witch's involvement in this." He gestured to Ferguson and Janna who waved at everyone with smiles on their faces. As Marco watched the group dispersed with Jackie grabbing on to his arm and kissing his cheek before speaking.

"Man you pulled a fast one there Marco, how is that you knew Skullnick wouldn't have noticed." Marco chuckled and explained.

"Well I know Mrs. Skullnick is not that attentive when it comes to keeping people in check, especially when there is a body double there. Ever since she turned into a troll that has only gotten worse with her apparently poor eyesight." Jackie and Marco chuckled at how fitting it was for Mrs. Skullnick to be a troll. "And also, Star is very invested into seemingly mundane items and sometimes loves these boring things so she would provide an easy distraction." Jackie chuckled but her face fell slightly before talking to Marco.

"Say, don't you feel bad about leaving Star behind?" Marco sighed slightly and then shrugged before replying.

"Star would have blown our cover for one reason or another and she is safe with Mrs. Skullnick. If anything happens to those dummies, I'll know about it and leap back to save Star." Marco held up what looked like a dowsing rod and winked at Jackie. "But let's not worry about that right now, we got HOURS to explore this dimension that is nothing but a museum; what would you like to see first?" Jackie took a quick look around seeing RuffTuff and Chantal atop what looked to be some sort of flying Manatee and squeed in joy.

"I wanna ride one of those things!" She pulled Marco along who ran with her to where those creatures were lazing around.

* * *

"This is my house, this my- this is my house, this is my-this is my house…" Mildrew watched as a group of Mavis's warriors began breakdancing as best they could. But one smashed another down by accident and they began brawling with each other; in a good natured fashion but still. He glanced over as Mavis as she began speaking.

"So, how bad is it?" Mildrew in took some breath as he let out his answer slowly.

"Well… while the discipline is the worst aspect of your group I've dealt with far worse. But this is gonna take some effort." Mavis sighed and began speaking to him freely.

"We have just been meeting failure after failure Mildrew, especially after I lost the last two shadows loyal to us. You don't need to hold back, we are in plenty bad shape." Mildrew looked at Mavis smiling in a comforting fashion and spoke soothingly to her.

"Don't worry, if Moon and Toffee could work up from so little then so can we. All we need is the proper opportunity to strike." Mavis nodded to him as Dumnorix went to pull two of the brawlers apart as they had begun getting nasty with each other. As he did so Selene came into the common area and bowed to Mavis before spekaing rapidly.

"Warchief, I caught wind of a trip by our enemy. They seem to wish to alter the plans of their 'teacher' and go on a trip to the Museum Dimension, could be an opportunity." Selene looked up at Mavis who smiled and chuckled as she spoke.

"One of the members of the Shadow Clause is proven alive and willing to aid us and Star willingly puts herself in great peril for what I guess is amusement. My dear mud-blood, you have the worst timing I've ever heard off." She turned to Mildrew who was smiling as well. "So can you contribute to our plan?" Mildrew smiled and gestured for people to gather around as he spoke.

"Ladies and gents, we have a golden opportunity and I have a plan that they will never see coming; so listen closely…"

* * *

"So that's why they have those little notches along the side. To grip the paper so it doesn't slide so easily." Mrs. Skullnick found herself smiling at Star despite everything and nodded.

"Yes Star, there is a lot more work involved with paper clips then you might think. Now if only you kids would show the same interest in these things." Skullnick spoke to other kids behind Star not paying them much heed as long as they followed her.

Life for her was… trying to say the least with everything that had happened to her naturally or unnaturally. She was 50 years old and entering her twilight years with not much in terms outside of teaching students to occupy her time. And the students she was teaching now were nothing to be joyful about except for Star and at one point Marco. Star also had accidentally turned her into a troll as well at the school football game which had made her 'ugly' in all terms and purposes. She wasn't pretty to begin with, she would not be in denial there, but it was at least workable compared to this. She wouldn't confront Star about it though as Star had at least tried to find a way to turn her back and started stressing until Skullnick told her to stop. Given Star's appearance Skullnick had decided to let it drop as her screaming out 'I'm hideous, change me back.' at Star had made her self-conscious about her appearance. As she reminisced about this she heard Star call out.

"Um, Mrs. Skullnick, I don't think everyone is here?" Skullnick turned around to look at the class and double took as something looked wrong.

"Whoever tells me why paperclips have the little divits in them can wait in the bus for the rest of the trip." When no one responded to that she knew something was wrong as some of the students had begged in the past to be left on the bus. "I don't think anyone is here Star." Skullnick looked closely at one of the students and realized it was a cloth dummy with clothes and a face painted on it. "Not even physically." Star waved her wand over the dummies seeming to sense something and spoke to Skullnick.

"Someone used magic to make these things follow us; and considering there was no struggle I'm assuming that everyone went willingly." Skullnick noticed Star get mad at this. "If Marco planned this out I am going to chain him to the stove and force him to feed me non-stop for the whole weekend." Skullnick chuckled at Star and moved the subject along.

"Do you have any idea on how to find them; you know magic and such." Star scratched her chin for a moment before snapping her fingers and pulling out a mini book from a pocket.

"Groficus Giganticus Titanticus." The book expanded in size to become a massive book even by Skullnick's standards. "Glossarick, I need some help." The book flipped open and a one foot tall blue man popped up making Skullnick double take. "Marco has gone somewhere and I need to find him, is there a spell I can use for that?" Glossarick smiled calmly at Star and replied.

"Have you tried calling him on your mirror?" Star groaned slightly and replied.

"He doesn't want to be found Glossarick, why else would I call you out for this?" Glossarick shrugged and reclined floating in mid-air as he answered.

"Well how about deduction, can you deduce where he might have gone given the circumstances and what you have heard him talk about?" Star opened her mouth to reply but stopped thinking for a second and snapping her fingers.

"When he told me about the field trip I told him about a dimension that was nothing but a museum. He showed interest in it saying he wished he could go there instead of the paper clip museum; maybe that's where he got off too." Skullnick noticed Glossarick give out a slight sigh in relief before he replied.

"Well done, you didn't need magic for that at all. Now go find him and if you'll excuse me, I'll be working on some sewing." He dove back into the book making it close behind him with Skullnick bringing up the obvious question.

"How are we going to get there?" Star reached for her pocket before snapping her fingers in frustration.

"Marco would have taken my dimensional scissors to get there. Fortunately I have a plan B for this particular dimension." Star reached into her pocket and pulled out a small vial with white opaque liquid in it. "My parents got me a life-long membership entrance to the dimensional museum giving me easy access; I just have no idea where we will pop up in there though." Star took the cork off the vial and let a single drop fall onto the floor. As they watched it spread into a long line and then came up forming a white door that opened inward.

"Alright Star, you know the area the best, lead the way." Star smiled and opened the door leading them to a small musty smelling area with a sign saying 'Walking with Trolls' hanging above them. "Well, I'm pretty sure I know the area we are in despite never being here before." Star looked around and sighed before speaking.

"We have to walk through the whole section to get out, time to get go…" Star looked to see Skullnick wandering to the side. "Um, this is the part where you get antsy about the students and rush to see if they are ok." Skullnick chuckled and replied.

"They aren't in any immediate danger right?" Star opened her mouth and then closed it confirming Skullnick's suspicions. "Let me have a look around at what a troll is since you turned me into one after all." Star opened her mouth again and closed it again following Skullnick along as she began learning what trolls were.


	37. School Trip Pt 2

***Psst, there have been a few edits to this chapter as I didn't like how it was made; sorry for the abrupt changes towards the end. ;)***

"Woo-hoooo!" Marco held onto Jackie's waist as they soared through the air on the back of the flying manta like creature.

Marco looked down seeing the other kids interacting with all sorts of things with various results. Oskar found a strange guitar and began playing it only to summon some sort of flying monster the seemed to be made of spaghetti and was wearing papal clothing. He saw another boy leap into some sort of portal and was spilt apart into four different versions of himself with three of them screaming and the fourth just looking disappointed. He saw a girl try to punch some sort of statue only to have it punch her in the face sending her flying 15 feet. He even saw Sabrina trip over her own feet climbing onto a box made of a constant set of stairs and as she began falling continuously with no end in sight he chuckled at just how ridiculous it was.

"DUCK!" Marco looked up, like an idiot, as Jackie called out while ducking to avoid the bar that hit Marco square in the face making him fall 20 feet to the hard ground below. "You ok Marco?" Marco got up wincing at the sting of falling as Jackie pulled the manta down close enough she could jump off and help him up. "You took a hard hit there twice." Marco brushed himself off smiling as he spoke excitedly.

"Gonna take more than that to beat me down; I've taken far harder hits then that." Jackie smiled in relief as they heard Janna speaking not a few steps away.

"Hey guys, check out the new friend we made." They looked up to see Janna and Ferguson standing next to some sort of movable glass show container with some sort of living skeleton inside. It appeared to have vampire like fangs, dreadlocks, glowing red pupil cat eyes, and a set of ankle manacles that glowed with power rooting it to the floor of the container. "He is an actual hoodoo witch doctor from the 16th century Marco!" Janna was excited the way a 5 year old would be jumping up and down excitedly as Ferguson spoke doing the same thing.

"Really man, this guy is awesome!" They leaned in close holding out their phones to take selfies with the skeleton speaking as it held its hands up in twin devil horns like death metal rockers sometimes did.

"Eh Mon." Marco shuddered at the skeletons gravelly Jamaican accent as it sent shivers up his spine.

"Cool man, creepy but cool." Jackie spoke in a laid back fashion before turning in shock at someone screaming.

"Help, this book is trying to eat me!" The group turned to see Chloe Park running away screaming as some sort of furry book chased her with Alfonzo running behind them shouting.

"You just need to pick it up and stroke its spine; it works every time!" The group laughed at the situation knowing it would be resolved without issue with Marco speaking up.

"Say I saw Sabrina falling down a strange stair cube thing, should we go help her?" Jackie and Ferguson nodded with Janna looking torn as to whether they should leave the skeleton guy.

"Eh, go help your friend. I'll be right here for you to free mon." The skeleton seemed to smile and gestured for Janna to go making Marco shudder as they moved and spoke to Janna quietly.

"Don't free that guy Janna, I got a bad feeling in person he's not as cool as he sounds." Janna shrugged unconcerned as they walked miffing Marco a bit. As they got to the cube however Sabrina was nowhere in sight. "Hey where is Sabrina; I swore she was here 10 minutes ago." Marco looked around seeing no one around. "In fact where is everyone? There's no one around." Marco turned back to his group to see all here of them looking up in concern behind him with Marco speaking in a deadpan manner. "There is a big scary creature behind me isn't there?" Marco felt an arm as thick as a tree trunk and twice as tough pick him up around his neck with an all too familiar voice speaking.

"Oh indeed Marco, I'm around." Dumnorix smiled with his one good eye glinting as the other forest barbarians surrounded the remaining trio with Mavis stepping forward and speaking up.

"Foolish for you to leave your princess's side, but more so for you then her it seems." The group chuckled as the other kids gave up without a fight for now. "Now to leave a message for Star as to what might happen should she not accept our invitation." Marco would have fought back but knew it would have been fruitless to do so as Dumnorix had beaten him in every engagement they had.

"Well jokes on you Mavis, Star doesn't even know we are here." Marco spoke up getting a laugh from the group with Selene replying.

"Then explain why she is in the 'Walking with Trolls' exhibit with your teacher." Marco couldn't help but gulp with worry bringing a smile to Selene's face. "Skipped out on your companion to enjoy life eh; well the joke is doubly on you then you pathetic excuse for a guardian." Marco opened his mouth to reply but no words came as he had no response for that.

* * *

"Trolls are one of only a few species known in the cosmos as Ultra-super-centenarians. That means they can live for a really really really really long time." The spider holding the megaphone who just spoke climbed up a line of web leaving Skullnick to blink in confusion for a second looking at the 400 year life-span she was now going to have.

"I thought I was in my twilight years, turns out I'm a teenager again!" She smiled with Star smiling at how overjoyed the teacher seemed before speaking.

"Oh, come over here to find out another advantage." Skullnick came over and listened as Star pushed for another audio in front of a suit of armor.

"Trolls are abnormally strong as they are able to lift 100 times their own body weight. This made them fiercesome warriors during the time of The Trollica industrialization-expansion period during the third nebulic millennium." Skullnick blinked in confusion and flexed her own arm blinking in disbelief as powerful muscles bunched up giving her an obscenely body-builder style look.

"Did you two see that?" Skullnick asked looking at the spider and Star who both nodded before the spider crawled back up with Star speaking.

"I myself came to this dimension to learn more about my Monster half as even my dad didn't know all the details. Turns out Septarians are pretty dang cool when you go into details." Star smiled with Skullnick nodding before asking as they began walking along.

"So, what are some special abilities of Septarians?" Star chuckled before replying.

"Well we can…" Star was interrupted when she snatched a paper airplane that would have hit her in the forehead and opened it up to look at it. "Huh, what is… oh no. Not good." Star read, with Skullnick looking over her shoulder, what appeared to be a ransom note telling Star to bring her wand or the class would perish. "Why do they keep on doing this? Ok Skullnick, time for me to save the class and to insure that Marco lives long enough for what I have planned for him." Star growled but was interrupted by metal clanging making her turn to see Skullnick putting on the Troll armor and hefting an over-sized and heavy halberd before speaking.

"Not without me you aren't. That is my class and the fact that I didn't rush to them when we got to this world makes their lack of security my fault. Now let's get the class back unharmed so I can deal out what I have in mind for Marco too considering he likely organized all this." They nodded to each other and rushed out of the exhibit into the 'outside' area and began looking for the Forest Barbarians.

* * *

Lord Mildrew smiled as he watched Star and Skullnick rush out of the 'Walking with Trolls' exhibit and turned moving fast. He got to where they were supposed to meet and exchange the wand but knew Star wasn't going to go there. From what he had heard of her she seemed to have less fire but the same tricky spirit her mother had back long ago. Memories from before his time in the caves after he was tossed off the battlements by Toffee seemed fuzzy and blurred but he could remember that much; including the burning hatred he had for the lizard that took his eye. He growled to himself thinking on how sweet it would be to take Moon as his woman next to Toffee's lifeless corpse when the time came. He wasn't sure what he would do with Moon afterword, kill her or keep her, but he wanted that much at least as payment for what had happened to Mewni. He got to the meeting place where two men stood at the ready with a third next to a glass box with the sign 'The cosmos's most dangerous creature' wielding a hammer ready to smash. Inside of it appeared to be some sort of yarn creature that was kitting and looked absolutely adorable which made the group even more nervous.

"Warriors, change in plans." The three looked up as Mildrew spoke. "Star is moving to look for where we are hiding them and she has a warrior troll accompanying her now. You need to go and warn Mavis of what is happening now, I'll catch up." The group nodded and ran off. As they got out of sight he chuckled at turned to the container making a strange sword materialize in his hand getting the creatures attention. The sword looked to be made out of Obsidian with a platinum hilt and the pommel being a dragon's head holding a brightly glowing ruby twice the size of a human eyeball. "I have a service for you and you are going to help me." He held up his sword with the pommel capturing the creature's gaze seemingly hypnotizing it. As he began to speak however he blacked out with his good eye going a strange solid glowing yellow color with his voice becoming deeper and more guttural.

"Mavis cannot succeed; insure that the kids get away with Star's wand still in her possession." The yarn creature nodded with Mildrew breaking the glass allowing it to slither out in a long line of yarn. As he chuckled at this his eye and voice returned to normal with Mildrew fainting in the process.

* * *

"Warchief, warning from Mildrew!" Mavis looked up in concern as three warriors rushed in who were supposed to be waiting at the meeting point. Mavis and the rest of her group were in a cave replica with the kids tied up along a wall and several of them harassing Marco. "Star is not going to the meeting point she is coming here." At this Mavis heard the familiar voice of Star cry out.

"And thank you for leading me here." Everyone turned to see Star standing there with some sort of troll warrior standing right behind her bearing a vicious looking halberd. Mavis stared at them in shock before turning back to the three.

"You didn't even check to see if she was following you?" The three looked down in shame and she slapped all three of them across the face at once in the three stooges' fashion. "Don't just stand there everyone, take her down!" The barbarians leapt at Star and Skullnick as one with the duo fighting back.

Star shouted "Monkey Hunger Gremlin" shooting out a group of strange goblin like creatures that grappled two warriors bringing them into a pile. As the others formed into a solid line of shields to counter Star's spells Skullnick raised up her halberd and swung it into the formation HARD. Three warriors were thrown back through the air with the formation falling apart giving an opening for another spell. "Stone Locust Swarm" A swarm of stony locusts sprang up and began pestering 4 warriors making them swing at the air uselessly. Skullnick swung her halberd around in a whirlwind fashion and, while only knocking one aside, cleared a path for Star to proceed. Star and Skullnick went back to back with the warriors surrounding them with Dumnorix, Selene, and Mavis stepping to the fore front; but were stopped by a hissing noise from outside the cave.

Everyone turned to see a gigantic scorpion like creature that appeared to have been made out of blue yarn. It had a pair of glowing red eyes as it crawled in slowly looking at everyone as if eager to torment and cause pain. The barbarians chuckled in triumph parting to give it a clear path to Star and Skullnick; but it ignored them and went straight for Mavis. As it swallowed Mavis whole the other barbarians fell back in an attempt to regroup with Star and Skullnick looking at each other in shock with Star speaking.

"Well, that was easy. Let's get everyone out of here." Skullnick got up in front of the kids acting as a guard with Star shooting a light line of magic out saying. "Ropes to snakes!" The ropes holding the students together turned into snakes making some people shiver in fear but what might happen to them if they got the attention of the yarn monster kept them quite. "Now get going people, there is a portal in the 'Walking with Trolls' exhibit that will get you out of here." Everyone nodded and ran with Marco speaking up.

"But I have the dimensional…"

"No you don't." Star looked at him annoyed and held up the scissors making Marco pat his pocket in shock. "You will get these back when I can trust you with them, not before." Star turned back to see the yarn creature fighting off the barbarians fairly easy allowing her and Skullnick to back away without much of a fight. As the group ran Janna was sidetracked by the hoodoo skeleton guy calling out to her.

"Take me wit you mon, I been stuck in this box for two centuries!" Janna looked back and forth between her and where everyone else was going and sighed.

"I can't pass up an opportunity like this." She ran back and used a glass cuter she had on her and cut it open enough so that he could squeeze out. She picked the locks on the manacles fairly easily as they were an old model allowing them to join everyone as they entered the exhibit.

"Say mon, why do you have that stuff?" Janna smiled and replied to the skeleton guy.

"Oh you know a thief and witch in training needs all sorts of things." He looked at her approvingly as they joined the students going through the portal.

As the students piled through the door quickly Star and Skullnick stood in front of the door for minute to make sure no one had followed them. When they were thoroughly convinced that they had made it out they went through the door and closed it behind them returning back to the museum of paperclips on earth. Star locked the door making it return back to its liquid state and leapt into the little glass flask Star had allowing Star to recork it. Everyone let out a cheer for Star and Skullnick and Janna, with Ferguson's help, now trying to hide the skeleton from Star and Skullnick's sight. Marco stepped forward and began speaking immediately holding up a tuning fork like item.

"Look Star, I left a spell in the dummies to insure that if Mavis and her cronies came to earth I could leap back and…" A solid smack sound emitted where Star slapped Marco throwing him into the wall of them museum making everyone fall silent and just stare at the yellow-eyed Star who was bursting with fury.

"THAT'S not what concerned me!" Marco looked up in shock as Star continued. "You put everyone's lives in danger not knowing what could exist in that museum just to get out of a boring field trip! What's more you left me out of it when I could have told you how to get through there safely and even could have acted as a distraction for Ms. Skullnick." The whole class, including Skullnick, gasped at this. "What you thought I wouldn't have 'gone along' with it just because I'm safety conscious? Marco, if my parents knew half the things we had been involved with they would have taken me straight home." Marco went to answer but Star continued. "Don't treat me like a stick in the mud and… you know what go hang out with whoever it is you are with when not around me, I'm not going to lecture you about including me if you excluded me after knowing myself as well as you do." Star walked away with everyone silently watching them and Marco having a hurt look in his eyes. He didn't sit like that for long however as Ms. Skullnick came up and began dragging Marco as she began speaking to everyone.

"The lot of you go through the museum quietly. If I have to come back inside to deal with another one of you I'll be using this on you." She hefted up the halberd making everyone duck their heads. She pulled Marco out of the museum making him face her. "As for you Marco, you are going to tell me the names of the people you conspired with and then you are going to be in detention for a very long time; got it?" Marco was about to respond but hesitated as he looked past Skullnick seeing Star pull out some sort of cigar looking thing making the fight go out of him.

"Yes Ms. Skullnick. The others were Janna and Ferguson who created the dummies and helped me execute the plan, no one else. I'll be in Saturday morning at 8am sharp." Ms. Skullnick blinked at the fact that Marco had not only given away the names of the other kids but had agreed to the worst possible detention right off the bat without a fight.

"Um… ok. Go sit in the bus and don't move a muscle." She let Marco go and watched him go into the bus looking defeated and turned back to stand near the entrance of the museum awaiting the other kids to come out.

* * *

"We can't beat this thing, it can't be hit!" Dumnorix turned to the warrior who said it and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"Nothing is unbeatable, now get back in there!" He threw the warrior into the fight only to have him be thrown back by the yarn-scorpion into one of the walls. "Well, that's not good." Selene came up to him and yelled up.

"Toss me at him, I'll cut him up from the inside!" Dumnorix nodded and picked Selene up only to be stopped as the creature began shrieking.

It swayed and staggered on its 'feet' as it seemed to be clawing at the air for some reason. As everyone watched it tried changing forms but failed to do so as bits of yarn came floating off of it to the ground. After about a minute of this everyone leapt back into the fight and began hacking at it as best as possible trying to bring it down. Dumnorix then tossed Selene into the creature with her cutting a hole into it. After a few minutes of this the creature finally collapsed into a pile of cut up pieces of yarn with Mavis and Selene limping out of it. As the group cheered in triumph Mildrew finally showed up looking flustered and exhausted as if he had been running a long distance.

"Mavis, *pant pant* I could not *pant* control the…" Mavis cut him off speaking as calmly as possible as he composed himself.

"No need to explain. Alright comrades, today we nearly got victory; I say that is worthy of a celebration." Everyone cheered at that with Mildrew looked both shocked and relived as Mavis cut a hole back home.

* * *

As the group of students moved through the museum silently Janna and Ferguson noticed that the skeleton guy had disappeared somehow. As they looked around quietly Janna felt a tap on her shoulder and tensed up, but relaxed as she heard its voice.

"Eh mon, I be invisible for now so no problem." Janna gestured for Ferguson to come over as she spoke to him.

"Say, considering you don't have anywhere to go in this world, and how many people would kill you on the spot given how creepy you look, would you mind staying with me or Ferguson?" After a brief moment of silence he spoke up again.

"Why are you lettin me stay wit you? I got this feelin that there is more behind dis then jus because you like me." Ferguson chuckled and responded.

"Well you might not make it in this world, a lot has changed in the 200 years you've been locked up. Also, we want to learn more about this kind of stuff you know. As a sorcerer and witch in training it would be nice to get some pointers from a genuine hoodoo witchdoctor you know." The two then stared at where they thought he was with big eyes until they heard a reply.

"Hehe, ok mon; I will teach you what I know about te hoodoo ways an much more. All dis in payment for breaking me out and letting me get use to this new world. Hold out your hands." They did so and felt something grab and shake them. "Now you are sealed wit me Janjak whether we wish to be or not. Now, what be dis marvelous invention that I be seein all around me?" the duo groaned as the witchdoctor noticed

* * *

"Cheers." Mavis clinked her glass with Lord Mildrew's. "This is the second closest we've ever come to taking the wand all thanks to you." Mildrew chuckled as he drank before speaking.

"Sorry about the beast, I wasn't able to properly control it and all that nonsense." He looked out over the celebrating warriors with Mavis retorting.

"Nonsense, we've all made mistakes here. We aren't the first to fall to the Butterfly's wits and magic you know. But tomorrow is another day and we will win eventually." Mildrew nodded and smiled feeling a dull throb at the back of his head that felt like how laughter would feel if it could be felt.

'Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?' He thought to himself.

* * *

Star laid under her heat lap in her underwear doing Zen time as she ate BBQ wings and read Manga letting the sweet soothing music fill her head on Saturday morning. Smiling in peace she thought over the maid outfit she had made up for Marco to wear when he came home from detention and chuckled. His parents had grounded him for a week and decided to include Star's suggestion into their consideration allowing Star to poof it up on him. Strangely enough though Marco just seemed to accept it with a sad nod as if he thought he deserved all this from how he acted. 'hmm, guess he does feel regret for that.' Star thought to herself as she munched silently on her food. She was interrupted however by the ringing of her mirror and picked it up to see Janna had sent her a recorded message from her smartphone.

It read "Was cleaning up the school as punishment after Marco ratted me out and overheard this. You NEED to listen to it." Star blinked in confusion and listened to the recording.

 _Marco Diaz: … I just don't want to talk about it as it would do no good._

 _Ms. Skullnick: You have been sighing and doing your work in a depressed state ever since you got here. Either you are going to tell me what is going on or this punishment is going to get far worse._

 _MD: I'm ok with that._

 _*Silence*_

 _MS: *In a quiet voice* You can't just hold onto it like this Marco, you need to get it off of your chest before if begins to hurt you. Now what's wrong?_

 _MD: *Sigh* I messed up with no excuses for it whatsoever, I left Star behind just to have a fling with my other friends in another dimension. I knew how sensitive Star was to that kind of stuff and left her behind without a second thought and only now realize I did something wrong. I mean, after our adventure at a place called St. Olga's she began taking anxiety medication, which is not a problem, but she began hiding it from me and outright lying about it when I asked her. She is trying so hard to be viewed as a nromal girl and I'm still not treating her like one. Now our friendship could be in danger because I didn't stop to think about her for a few seconds. I'm an idiot, a jackass, a jerk, an inconsiderate douche…_

 _S: Stop right there. You made a mistake and came out the bad guy because of it; so what? People make mistakes and look like jerks because of it all the time since they didn't think things through. The fact you feel regret for it tells me that you are not a bad guy, just a 14 year old kid who acted like an idiot to have fun._

 _MD: *sniff* Really?_

 _S: I was 14 too once, and I made plenty of bad mistakes. I can't give out much advice but I can tell you to confront Star about your ineptitude and tell her the truth that you know about the medication, it will make things work out better for you._

 _MD: I can't do that for the latter, she'll just get mad that I'm looking at her as if she was made out of glass._

 _S: Then let her get mad. Let her scream and curse until she gets it out of her system but you need to tell her the truth to get your friendship back on track. From what I can tell you need to stop distancing yourself from her and tell her that you wish to get your friendship on track no matter what and do whatever it takes to do so. *pause* So, feel better yet?_

 _MD: *sniff* Yes actually, thank you._

 _S: My pleasure. Now get back to work._

Star held her mirror as the end tone ringed signaling that the recording was finished. 'Marco is afraid our friendship is in danger because of this and was reduced to tears because of his guilt?' Star thought to herself over that and realized how strange the situation was. Here she was mad at him for leaving her out but also happy that he was so eager to make things right and embarrassed that he could see through her lies and knew about her sneaking behind his back. 'He was an incosiderate jer but he actually wants to make up for it because he cares about me so much.' ***Throb*** Star felt that sensation that had grown familiar and realized what it meant; and didn't like it in the slightest.

"Marco's my guide, therapist, and guardian as well as my best friend. ***Throb*** I can't go for him as I am a princess and no one would accept him as he is the equivalent of a peasant. ***Throb*** He has a girlfriend. ***Throb pang*** No… nonononononononono girl NO, you know better than this!" Star looked up at her mirror taking a good look at her body, her grey and unappealing lizard like tomboyish body. She knew she would be a bombshell one day thanks to the time dimension but in her current state… "Even if he didn't have a girlfriend or found me physically attractive… he just views me as a friend; it would never work." ***Throb*** Star grabbed her tail holding it in close and wrapping a fluffy blanket around her as tears came to her eyes. "Why… why do I have to develop a crush on my best friend?"

 **Well... I did not expect this to get this dramatic when I started and that was a lot to unpack. Honestly, I didn't like this chapter that much but couldn't think of a better way to make it work. I know what many of you people would say "get an editor to help you" but I like working alone and honing my skills through feedback from mistakes as that is how I learn best. *Psst, I edited this from an earlier stage after I published this because I haerd of a better way to do this; sorry for the people who read it before I edited it and thank you SugarQueen97 for the suggestions. ;)***

 **Thank you for all the support and ideas throughout the months I've been making this. As for the next epis... wait that's an original one, as is the next one! Well... based off of some "Collateral damage" done and the time when some "Friendenemies" got together. See you soon.**


	38. The New Principal Pt 1

**WH: Wait, were people in debate as to whether Marco deserved the treatment he got from Star or if Star just overreacted to this? The last chapter was me falling on my face; how did I get to the point where my work is being interpreted in these ways I am not that good an author.**

 **SN: Yes you are.**

 **WH: No I'm not.**

 **SN: Yes you are.**

 **WH: No I'm not.**

 **OP: *steps up as the two bicker* Enjoy the episode folks; and sorry for the wait as the Hippie fell off the writer train due to the last chapter and had to get back on.**

"How long is it going to take for you guys to just give up already?! Rainbow Sharknado!" Star shot a twister of rainbow colored sharks that tore a hole right through the Forest barbarians shield wall scattering them all over the school.

"We will not relent, EVER!" Selene got up from the spell and moved towards Star but was intersected by Marco who smiled and took a fighting stance before speaking.

"I believe your dance is with me?" Selene growled and surged forward taking Marco head on.

The barbarians under Mavis had decided to attack the school while Star and Marco were there. They seemed to have a plan to use the students to try and get to Star and Marco like they had in the past but they did not count on the students fighting back this time. As the group was blown apart kids began throwing random items at any barbarian they could focus down on and, while not hurting them, causing disruption that kept them from being an effective fighting force.

Floyd reached down to one of the barbarians and picked her up shaking her in the air a minute before slamming her to the ground repeatedly with Oskar playing music on Floyd's back. Two of the barbarians got up dazed and confused only to be dogpiled by the combined force of the school's sports teams. Another one tried running for Star again but was stopped by Janna pepper spraying his face and tasering him in the groin with a smile on her face. Ferguson closed his eyes and murmured something under his breath shooting a weak flame from his hands into one of the barbarians face's setting his hair and beard on fire making him scream and run around like a lunatic. RuffTuff grappled one of the barbarians while Chantal, using some sort of brass knuckles, began punching the grappled one's face and kicking his groin making him go limp in pain. Skullnick wielded her halberd with better skill then the first time she used it smacking aside three barbarians before coming head to head with Dumnorix who stared her down before speaking.

"You think you can protect your little girl?" He charged forward and went to tackle Skullnick but only managed to grab the weapon and force them into a shoving match.

Grunting in exertion Skullnick replied "Well if you enter my school intending to do my kids harm, you bet your ass I'm gonna beat your ass to protect her." As the two shoved Star twirled with her wand shooting mini comets all over the battlefield causing destruction and mayhem. Mavis ducked and dodged under them with Mildrew actually beating aside one that would have hit her as he spoke quickly.

"This fight has turned against us before it even started; we need to fall back now." Mavis looked around seeing everyone getting beaten down with her consenting reluctantly.

"Alright, Fall back; they were prepared for us this time!" As she yelled out the barbarians began retreating as best as possible.

"We will have your head for this traitor!" One of the barbarians called out to RuffTuff as he fell back chuckling at them.

"With that type of attitude, I think not." He and Chantal fist bumped as they stood to the side.

More of them disentangled themselves from the various groups making a fighting retreat to a portal Mavis cut in the air. As they did so Skullnick shoved up against Dumnorix hard enough to send him flying into a statue of a stone possum in front of the school. Growling in anger, Dumnorix picked up the statue, straining at the effort at first, and threw it at Skullnick. Star reacted and yelled "Doggy Jackhammerer" and shot some sort of jackhammer dog at the statue shattering it. As she did so every student and teacher fell silent immediately and just looked at the shattered statue. Star waved goodbye with a cocksure smile to the retreating Barbarians who sealed up the portal behind them and blinked at the overwhelming silence that hung over the school. Looking around she saw people just randomly go up to the shattered remains of the statue and began picking up bits of rubble staring at it in shock. Star began to realize something bad had just happened and went over to Marco speaking nervously and rubbing her tail.

"Um Marco, did I do something bad?" Marco looked over at Star and tried putting on a smile but failed and began speaking.

"Well it was Dumnorix who was at fault here but… you kind of shattered a statue that has been the pride and joy of Echo Creek for more than a century." Star took on a fearful expression and looked around holding her tail close to her and began yelling out randomly to everyone.

"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY! I CAN FIX THIS!" Star ran forward with Marco failing to stop her as Star pointed her wand at the statue. "Repair Raccoon!" She shot out a stream of green and pink magic making green and pink raccoons. The Pink ones tried fixing the statue while the green ones started attacking anything in sight, including the pink ones. "GAH! I CAN FIX THIS!" Star sucked up the raccoons in her wand and pointed it at the statue again but was interrupted by the Principal.

"GAHHHHHH! First the football game, then the incident of Brittany's party that spilled over here, then the flying boy snatcher, then the explosion of the workshop, then the field trip gone wrong, and now this! I don't care what happens now, I QUIT!" Star and everyone looked up to see Principal Skeeves run like hell was behind him from the school with Star trying to turn back to the statue. Marco grabbed Star however and pulled her away speaking softly to her.

"It's ok Star, just come with me ok." Star followed Marco feeling a gnawing sensation inside of her as she gripped onto his hand and sobbed silently.

'Why do I always seem to mess up?' Star asked herself as they went back into school.

* * *

A bald and slightly overweight man with a small black beard on the end of his chin and blue eyes stepped out of his car and looked at the school Echo Creek. He was wearing a blue polo T-shirt with a black tie and plaid pants and held a briefcase in his hand. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly relishing the southern California air that felt so different yet familiar to the last school he had worked at. As he stepped up to the school a tall and lean woman wearing glasses came up to greet him speaking sweetly.

"You must be Mr. Lancer, welcome to Echo Creek." She held out his hand which he promptly shook and smiled speaking cheerily.

"It's nice to be here. I'm glad to accept the position of vice-principle as this seems to be a nice place to unwind while still working. Are you the secretary here?" She smiled and nodded talking to him cheerily.

"It was nice you could fill the position; not many people wanted it and we had been without a vice-principle for months." She was about to speak more but they were both interrupted by Principal Skeeves running out of the school in a fluster screaming something about quitting. They watched him get in his car and start it up rushing out onto the road leaving a trail of destruction behind him. "And now we've lost the principle; this day has officially turned sour." Lancer turned to the secretary and smiled putting on an optimistic face.

"You know I have had to fill in for the principal at my previous job before coming down here, I could fill in the role if you want until you get an official principal in." She looked at Lancer smiling and led him into the school at a breakneck pace speaking a mile a minute.

"Excellent. We will have to get you up to speed but that will be no issue as nothing much in terms of trouble happens at this school. You will have to take into account the fact that we still have no vice-principle so it will increase your work load but…" As he listened to her prattle on he looked over and saw a group of kids and teachers who were staring at a pile of crushed stones like they had just lost their purpose in life.

'I don't know what I've gotten myself into, but I have the feeling it is going be either really good or really bad.' Lancer thought to himself as he was led to his office.

* * *

Marco looked around the cafeteria as some kids went about life like nothing had happened, others were gossiping about the attack that morning, and several were in a depressed state at the loss of the statue. Marco glanced towards Star who was clearly distressed and eating as fast as possible to try and busy herself. Marco sighed and took out the special comb, he had taken to carrying it around with him everywhere, and began combing Star's hair making her visibly calm down. Star shuddered and moved in close to Marco who smiled as Star began speaking.

"What exactly did I do wrong? I mean I got a destroy something out of reaction to protect Ms. Skullnick but why are so many people saddened by its passing?" Marco sighed again and began speaking.

"Well, it all began when the first people moved to the valley of Echo Creek back in 1846, 169 years ago. The group known as the Bonner party settled here after having a particularly dangerous and hectic travel across the great planes. Lacking funds to gather supplies they had nothing but determination, ingenuity, and luck to pull them through the hardships. When they thought they had reached sanctuary in the valley of Echo creek however they were beset by a pest of the valley, the local possum population. After having come through so much the group was not about to give in as they had nowhere else to go so a desperate vicious war emerged between colonist and possum. The fighting maimed and claimed the lives of multiple colonists while the Possums were either killed or driven off in droves. Finally on the dawn of the 26th day of fighting the last possum was driven into the forest prompting a celebration. As it turned out the possum war was a godsend as it supplied food for weeks and possum part materials for trade that put Echo Creek on the map just enough to draw attention. To commemorate their fallen opponents and thank them for the surprising help they gave a statue was made of the last possum that was defeated, which was deemed Otis. He has since served as a form of inspiration for many people about the first and greatest victory the people of Echo Creek have ever claimed. Nowadays many people didn't pay to statue much heed, like myself, but some still do and his loss hit them really hard." Marco turned back to Star and smiled he went to speak again but Star cut him off.

"Why does this keep on happening to me? I keep on trying my best but somehow I screw it up half the time if I'm lucky. Marco, have you ever failed that badly before?" As the words left Star's mouth she remembered what had happened on the field trip and realized what she had said to late. She turned towards him to see Marco standing up giving off a half-hearted chuckle.

"Maybe a few times but not often; I'll see if I can get you some more tacos, if the lunch lady isn't in one of her moods again." Star went to call for him but stopped half-way through and shook her head speaking half-heartedly.

"No, he's been like that for the past week; if he wants to sulk in pity let him." Star got up and moved out of the cafeteria. "I'm going to try fixing my mistake in a PRODUCTIVE way."

* * *

"So, who has been causing the 'recent' issues at the school?" Lancer spoke to his secretary as she laid out everything he needed to know about the school onto his new desk. "Considering Skeeves fled without even cleaning out his desk I think they should be the ones I talk to first." The secretary nodded and picked out several files handing them to him.

"There are six students in particular you should know about; Ferguson O'Durguson, Alfonzo Dolittle, Janna Ordonia, Oskar Greason, Marco Diaz, and Star Butterfly. They seem to be the cause of the disturbances, especially Marco Diaz and Star Butterfly." Lancer took the files and began looking through them blinking in shock at the list of things that had happened in the last few months and some of their past track records.

"I haven't seen this much action since that time at Casper High School." He sighed and looked up at his secretary. "I'm going to be dealing with these students one by one today so please hold or take all calls for me until I am finished." She nodded and walked out as he picked up the mic. "Would Ferguson O'Duguson please report to the principal's office." He waited for Ferguson who came in after a few minutes looking a little worried before speaking.

"Are the girls that mad at me for putting a face on my belly and having it hit on them?" Lancer pinched the brow of his nose closing his eyes and thinking to himself, 'This is gonna be a long day.'

* * *

Marco came back to the table Star was at having gotten the extra food only to see that she had disappeared. Groaning in frustration Marco sat at the table and hit his head on the table sulking slightly until he heard a call from the principle.

"Would Alfonzo Dolittle please report to the principal's office." Marco put his head up in shock as someone spoke next to him.

"Ferguson was also called as well man, no need to worry yourself that much." Marco turned in shock to see Oskar in the cafeteria. "I came in here to see if I could help out with Star all things considered but she seemed to have run off from you doting on her right?" Marco blinked in shock and shook his head a little before speaking.

"I don't get it, she claims to have forgiven me for what happened at the field trip but she seems…" Oskar spoke up as Marco went silent.

"Distant like you and Jackie are slowly becoming." Oskar strummed his Keytar as Marco blinked in admiration at his observance. "Hey man I'm a bit more attentive then you might think. I'm guessing the reason why you didn't tell Star beforehand was because of the reason she stated but it might be something else given your attitude." Marco sighed and went to speak but Alfonzo cut him off. "No need to tell me man, I'm guessing its private, but you do need to tell Star. I mean, aren't you bestie's that need to tell the truth with each other?" Oskar seemed to raise his eyebrow at Marco but that was hard to tell due to the bangs covering his eyes. Marco finally responded after a few minutes.

"Yeah I should… but the reason is just so stupid in hindsight." Oskar chuckled and strummed again speaking.

"Well everything is stupid in a certain light man, no way to get around it. Like how everyone is stupid in not believing how the big business companies are bribing the government through various means to support their own agendas." Marco laughed at that with the principal's voice calling out again.

"Would Oskar Greason please report to the Principal's office." Oskar shrugged and stood up speaking to Marco.

"I got the feeling you're gonna be called up sooner or later man, just to let you know." He walked off with Marco taking a bit from the taco meant for Star originally as lunch period was ending soon and there was no need to waste good food.

* * *

"Rubble Repair Rhino!" Star shot another bolt of light at the pile of what remained at the statue that no one had touched yet. Some sort of Rhino wearing a construction worker's costume began picking up the pieces and fitting them together in a puzzle that Star could tell right off the bat would not work. "Grrrrrr, why won't you fix!?" Star then felt someone tap on her shoulder making her jump five feet in the air before realizing it was just Jackie. "Oh… um… hi just… fixing the statue…" Star looked over at the rhino that had turned the rubble into something that looked like DNA and seemed very pleased with itself. "… and not succeeding. *sigh*" Jackie patted Star on the back and held up a conch shell to Star's ear before speaking.

"Star, no one is blaming you for the destruction of the statue, it was Mavis and her cronies fault. You don't need to get worked up about it." Star sighed again and replied sadly.

"But it doesn't feel that way. All around the school at least a full third of the students seem to have fallen into a depressed state." Star motioned over to where the sports teams were just lying on the ground staring at the sky in loss. "I can't find anyway to help them out and I can't shake the feeling I could have done something different." Jackie chuckled and pulled the conch away while pulling Star into a hug before speaking.

" Look Star, maybe you could have done something different maybe not; its going to do you no good until you forgive yourself." Star blinked at the advice and found it was relevant in more ways then one.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Jackie." Star smiled at Jackie as the two pulled apart. As they did so they saw the rhino had put on artists clothes and was now painting the DNA statue. "Should I let that guy exist like Floyd or what." Jackie shrugged with her saying something else.

"Oh yeah, the gang is gathering outside of the principal's office to discuss something; I think you should come with." Star nodded and went with Jackie shooting a beam of light at the rhino who cried out.

"No, I didn't get a separate episode involving me!" He then dissolved into the magic he was made out of and returned into the wand. 'I wonder what that was about?' Star thought to herself as they made their way to the principal's office.


	39. The New Principal Pt 2

"So Janna… you seem to have a mighty long track record here." Lancer looked at Janna with a raised eyebrow as she slyly smiled and replied.

"What can I say, some people don't like what I like to do." Lancer looked at the track record that extended for years before this date before speaking.

"Mostly small petty things but the sheer number of them puts you highest on the list of 'delinquents' in this school as far as I can tell. So Skeeves assigned you to be with Marco in order to 'straighten you out?" Janna nodded propping her feet up and folding her hands behind her head. "*sigh* Look I don't care what your family life is like to make you do such outcries for atten…" Janna cut him off sitting up straight with an offended look on her face.

"I do not pull this stuff just to get attention. My parents are awesome, especially my mother." Lancer blinked in shock as she continued. "Why do people always assume its family, they always do that. Why can't I have a little fun that some consider off color without bringing the heat down on them." She fumed for a second before calming down. "Anyways, I'm assuming you called me here about Star considering our group." Lancer nodded with Janna smiling again. "She's a cool girl and got me and Ferguson a step up in getting more material for our occult club. We are trying to start one up officially but the school hierarchy keeps on delaying it for one reason or another. She's a half-lizard princess from another dimension if the other three haven't told you about her yet. Honestly, there's not a mean bone in her body but I think it's better for you to just meet her yourself to find out more." Lancer nodded soaking this all in before replying.

"Yes. I think our conversation here is done. Just a warning, I'm not judging you for your past deeds but I am not going to tolerate any more events." Janna shrugged as she stood up and replied.

"Eh, expected nothing less from you. I'm fairly certain we will be seeing each other again soon enough." She waved lazily to him as she walked out of the room making Lancer feel strangely played. He shook his head and called in Marco Diaz who stepped in before he was finished talking.

"Mr. Diaz, you got here fast." Marco shrugged and sat down at the desk and began speaking.

"Yeah we kind of gathered just outside of your office since you're calling us about Star right?" Lancer blinked in shock and nodded before speaking.

"That's right, but first let's talk about you. You have done very little according to our records that would indicate you as a trouble maker for many years. I even heard from the secretary that you were considered the 'safe kid' and were assigned Oskar and Janna to reform them." Marco seemed to fume about something for a second before nodding. "And while they have improved somewhat you seem to have slacked off if ever so slightly, why?" Marco sat up straight and got a noble look on his face.

"Because I am tired of the title ''safe kid'. I like taking risks and living life with a little danger as a misunderstood bad boy would." Marco noticed Lancer suppressing a laugh and got an annoyed look on his face. "You don't believe me either do you?" Lancer shook his head no and responded.

"You remind me of a student I once had who acted the same way you did, trying to be a bad boy and failing every step of the way. Frankly I'm just fine with that since you are technically the 'guide' for Star Butterfly. Is that correct?" Marco nodded with Lancer smiling. "So, how would you describe her?" At this point Marco's face fell and he got somewhat nervous.

"Well… she's had it pretty rough before coming here Mr. Lancer; and I mean really rough. She's someone I think you would like a lot because she tends to follow rules most of the time and excels in classes. So please don't make her feel uncomfortable in the slightest; she's a really sensitive girl." Lancer raised his eyebrow before asking a question.

"Despite what you did in the most recent field trip and how she reacted?" Marco's face fell even further and he pulled his feet onto the seat with him.

"She still hasn't forgiven me for that. I've tried everything I can think of with just apologizing being the first thing I did. I mean she says she's forgiven me but it just doesn't…" Marco trialed off as Lancer scratched is chin before replying.

"Well, I think I got everything I needed to. You are free to go Marco; and please tell everyone to go back to class as I only need to speak with Star now." Marco nodded and got up.

* * *

Star came up to her group of friends with Jackie alongside her as they waited in front of the Principal's office. Oskar waved her over to him and seemed to want to talk with Star about something real quick. Star went over and sat next to him with Oskar not wasting a second before speaking.

"Star… have you forgiven Marco for what he did?" Star blinked in confusion before answering.

"Yes I have, that's kind of a stupid question. Is Marco sulking again?" Oskar looked at her oddly before going on.

"I'm not sure what exactly is going on between you two but it doesn't feel like you've forgiven him from what I can sense. I could tell even before Marco spoke to me after a little prodding. So what is really going on?" Star blinked at him in concern before realizing everyone was looking at her in concern as well.

"Will you all stop doing that!" Star sighed and continued talking. "He's been doing these strange things that are so out of character as of late, even asking me if he could go out on a date with Jackie at one point. Well… I still don't know why Marco did it in the first place and maybe because of that I've been half-hearted about him but the reason why shouldn't matter right? It's probably a really stupid reason I should just overlook." Oskar began chuckling getting everyone's attention before speaking.

"Yeah, Marco said something along those lines as well about the reason being stupid. I still think you should talk about it though and actually work it out." Everyone nodded with Marco stepping out of the office and talking to their group.

"He just wants to see Star now and for all of us to get back to class. And don't worry Star, I cleared the way for your talk with the new principal." Star blinked n shock before speaking.

"Wait, we have a new principal? That was fast." Everyone nodded with Ferguson speaking.

"Apparently he was meant to be the new vice principal but came exactly when Mr. Krabs ran off." Everyone laughed at that as Star got up and walked into the office with everyone dispersing.

She noticed Marco still looking at her concerned with his big chocolate eyes and his adorable mole and fluffy black hair… ***Throb***. Star shook her head to get herself focused and walked into the principal's office repressing the sting of unrequited love. As she entered she saw nothing had been changed from her time there a few months ago except for a pile of files on the side of his desk that he was trying to look through. As she entered the new principal looked up with a smile that fell slightly as he gestured to the seat in front of his desk. Star went there and sat down being subjected to a strange judgmental stare from the principal before he spoke.

"So you are Star Butterfly?" Star nodded keeping her eyes low to avoid eye contact with him. "Well, it seems like you have quite the track record even though you only came a few months ago from… Mewni?" Star nodded again with Lancer's eyes narrowing slightly. "Well from what I've heard you have been more a victim of circumstance then anything else, if some of these claims are to be believed." He ran his eyes over her for a full minute making her skin crawl. "So… where are you really from and what is your real name?" Star looked at him in shock before speaking.

"Um… that information is accu…" Lancer cut her off.

"Oh come on no one has the fantastical surname of Butterfly and some of these events simply could not have happened according to students descriptions. I've seen stuff people would never believe in but this is just too spectacular to believe in." He got up from his desk and came around to her. "Now let's take that costume off of you so we can talk like civilized people." He reached down surprisingly fast and pulled straight up on her tail eliciting and 'eep' of shock from her. As he did so her dress was hiked up and her stark white panties were revealed in all their glory along with the tail's connection to her body. They sat frozen in shock for several seconds before he leapt back in shock. "ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU!" Star fell off her chair backing away from him shivering all over and holding her tail close to herself.

"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!" Star backed up into a corner as she tried to compose herself. "Please don't judge me ahead of time, I'm half-Monster but I'm not a vicious beast that you need to be afraid of. Please don't judge me!" Star began crying as Lancer stood there in shock for a second before falling to his knees and began speaking.

"I'm sorry for doing that Star! I should have had the benefit of doubt that you were like the descriptions people had of you considering what I have seen but I leapt to conclusions too quickly! I also just touched a student inappropriately, yes by accident but still! Please don't judge me; I just thought you were wearing a costume!" They both sat on the floor trying to pull themselves together for a few minutes until Star pulled herself together and looked up at Lancer speaking softly.

"It's ok, with the way the atmosphere felt I just thought that you were going to judge me and with you being…" Star looked down as Lancer pulled himself together and began speaking.

"No no, it's my fault completely. After having been vice-principal for a school that had a half-ghost in it a half-Monster shouldn't' take me by surprise." Star looked at him in confusion making him futz uncomfortably. "It's a long story. Perhaps we can take our seats again and get back to business?" Star nodded and they got back up taking their seats with an uncomfortable silence stretching out before he spoke again. "So, I'm holding none of the actions against you; not even the 'Mewberty' incident as it was reported as. So, why did your parents send you off to earth?" Star spoke slowly and softly almost like she was afraid of making him mad.

"Well… after an incident at my 14th birthday party where I used magic inappropriately my parents decided to transfer me to earth in the Terra Dimension. They figured it was safer here and that I could also work on my social skills to a better degree." She calmed down a little bit more but still vibrated slightly holding her tail close and stroking it. "And everyone has been pretty nice for the most part, especially Marco. I'm living with his family and looks out for me in everything. He served as my guide, my bestie to the end, my therapist when I had nightmares, and my Guardian when my aunt Mavis's cronies come around." Star smiled with the vibrating disappearing. "He also makes good nachos and treats me as just an ordinary girl; not a princess or a Monster, just a girl." * **Throb** * Star stopped talking and blushed slightly as Lancer smiled.

"He did say you were a sweet girl and had been through a lot. Know this; I will never judge a student by what they are, only how they act." Star smiled and chuckled letting her tail go as the tension evaporated for the most part. Star then remembered something from earlier and spoke up.

"So… you've read The Island of Dr. Moreau?" Lancer looked at her in confusion. "Well I have also even though my parents didn't want me to due to… well…" Star raised her tail up slightly pointing to it with Lancer nodding and replying.

"I can understand that. I'm surprised that you read it though considering you're only 14 and from another dimension." Star chuckled and replied.

"Well I didn't have many friends and being half-Septarian, that's a type of Monster, I don't need that much sleep. I have read many books from Mewni, Earth, and all over the cosmos. Go ahead, list off books and see what I have read." Star looked at him challengingly with Lancer smiling as he accepted it.

"Moby Dick."

"Found the writing to be very hypnotic even though both of my parents couldn't' get into it."

"Gulliver's Travels."

"A nice light hearted tale in my opinion."

"To Kill a Mocking Bird."

"Wish more people on my world were like Atticus Finch and acted like adults."

"Lord of the Flies."

"Shows exactly what would happen if we had no rules and let our 'true natures' rule us."

* * *

Marco waited outside the school as kids left heading home with Jackie and Janna standing next to him waiting for Star. Marco was worried as always since this guy seemed cool but he had never encountered a half-Monster before and it might have gone badly. Considering that Star hadn't come back for the rest of the day he was beginning to suspect the worst had happened and was getting nervous. He looked at Jackie and Janna with both of them giving him a thumbs up to show they were right behind him. Marco sighed and nodded turning back to the school and was both relived and shocked at what he saw. Lancer and Star were coming out of the school talking and laughing with each other like close friends attracting other students attention as well. Everyone that was left couldn't help but stare as the duo walked out the front and got to where Marco was. Star turned to him and began speaking excitedly.

"Marco, you have no idea how cool this guy is. He's like the uncle I never had because all the others were hard brow warriors or pompous jacknapes." Marco blinked at the language Star was using and looked up at the principal who rubbed the back of his head and blushed slightly before speaking.

"Sorry if I worried you by keeping her till the end of the day but she volunteered to help me out with file sorting. She got me up to speed on the school and told me everything I needed to know and what I should be concerned about for the future. Speaking of which…" He held his hand out to Janna. "…I'll be taking my car keys back now." Janna groaned and gave him back his car keys. "You kids be good now and I hope to see you soon Star." He reached down patting her head with Star smiling and pushing her head in purring slightly. Lancer walked off with Star smiling after him before turning back to her friends and speaking.

"Marco, before we go there's something I want to ask you." Star took a deep breath before speaking further. "Why did you do what did during the field trip?" Marco got a caught in the headlight's look as he glanced at Janna and Jackie who both looked interested in this. Sighing in resignation he responded.

"Well… can we talk about it in private?" Star nodded and led him away with Jackie smiling in understanding and Janna frowning slightly. He leaned in close speaking softly. "It's not just because the field trip was boring, it was because I was trying to get close to Jackie again." Star blinked in confusion as Marco went on. "I know it's a stupid reason but our relationship has been slipping even faster for some reason and I just don't know what to do. So I got desperate and…" Star flicked his forehead with a finger and began speaking.

"Marco… you do realize I can help with that right?" Marco lowered his head in shame as Star smiled. "I get it can be a lot to deal with me at times and I have a lot to deal with but that doesn't mean I can't help you. Just tell me what you need and I will help in any way possible, got it?" Marco nodded and looked at her in sadness. "Do you know not to do to me what you did during the school field trip again?" Marco nodded. "Then that means I have forgiven you and we can move on." Marco nodded again. "Also Marco, I can forgive you all you like but that's never going to do a thing until you forgive yourself for making that douche move and work to do better for the future. Got it?" Marco nodded before speaking up.

"It's just… hard to do considering what I know about you and what I still did anyways." Star smiled and patted him on the shoulder as Marco finally smiled. "Awkward forgiveness bestie hug." Star nodded and the two hugged it out. "I promise to be completely truthful and open and trusting for the future till the very end."

"I promise too." Star spoke feeling a twinge of guilt inside of her that Marco had stopped running around like a headless chicken and opened up to her again while she was hiding something from him. 'Why is life so complicated?' Star thought to herself as she hung onto Marco a little feeling his soft warm hoodie against her and smelling his comforting scent of cooked food and watermelon shampoo. * **Throb** * Star repressed a shiver as they parted and went back to the others. "So it's a date between you and Jackie tonight huh? Remember, tomorrow is friendship Thursday." Marco smiled and walked off with Jackie.

"Won't forget Star, not ever." Star waved to him feeling the sting of unrequited love as he held hands with Jackie. But in her mind they were still best friends, and for her that was more than enough; she hoped.

"Hey Star." Star shook herself coming out of a love induced haze turning back to Janna. "So, things worked out between you and Marco?" Star nodded feeling some more guilt. "Well let's get moving. Say is the principal really cool?" Star smiled and began speaking as they walked away.

"That guy is really cool. He has read so many books that we could have literally talked for days over that subject alone. He actually takes me seriously when I speak so I don't have to worry about him looking down on us. He even used to be Vice Principal for a school that had a half-ghost in it and suffered for supernatural ghost encounters all the time." Janna perked up at the last one and turned towards Star.

Can I get in to talk with him about that stuff?" Star smiled as they continued talking with star thinking to herself.

'Things are turning out ok again.'

* * *

Mavis downed another drink and laid her head on her hand in exasperation as Mildrew got her another one before speaking.

"You can't let this bring you down after all that has happened." Mavis nodded in acknowledgement and took the next one before speaking.

"I know, it can just be so frustrating at times." Dumnorix watched them talk with each other as one of his companions came up alongside him speaking.

"Hey, we're doing a round of arm wrestling; mind taking on the winner to see how long he lasts?" Dumnorix nodded and smiled.

"Am I that renowned that I can't even participate anymore?" As they turned to go however Dumnorix saw something he knew was not right. Mildrew got Mavis another drink and seemed to pour some sort of powder into it that dissolved almost instantly. 'Hmmm, is mystery.' He thought to himself as he began to question once again why Lord Mildrew would come to their particular group now of all times. He could have gotten a far larger group from other barbarians and claimed the wand as he seemed to have known where Star was when he found them but he didn't. And what's more, he didn't' do that much during the last fight when he knew Mildrew was capable of great things. 'Is a mystery indeed.'

 **OP: See if you can figure out where principal Lancer is from as he is in fact not an OC.**

 **SN: Yes you are.**

 **WH: No I'm not.**

 **OP: WILL YOU TWO STOP THAT! *silence pervades the area* Now Hippie, if you would.**

 **WH: Right. See you all next time for a "Boys night out" with Marco and Tom.**


	40. Boy's night Out Pt 1

**WH: I have returned from my time in meditation and am ready to resume my quest. Time for another quasi-based episode of the show, the episode "** **Frenemies". Ok Spongbob Narrator, you're up for this episode.**

 **SN: My time to shine once more.**

Marco had just started Friday homework eager to get through it so he wouldn't have to worry about it all weekend. He heard the doorbell ring and thought nothing of it thinking his parents would get it but then heard a crash coming from Star's room with some muttered cursing coming from it. Marco got up from his desk and ran for the room and went to knock on the door before he was interrupted by Star.

"You can come in Marco; I kind of need your help with something." Marco opened the door to see Star wrapped up in Christmas lights with a pile of more Christmas lights in the corner.

"Um, what's going on?" Star chuckled and bounced over to Marco with Nacho batting at a loose string of lights.

"Well you know when Aunt Helsinki came over? She kind of didn't wrap the Christmas lights up correctly turning it into a mess of wires." Marco shuddered at the idea of that and the nightmare it would be to undo it. "So I decided to try to unwrap it and wrap it back up right while you did homework. I got it unwrapped pretty well thanks to magic but then it encircled me and I got tangled up in it. Can you help me out of this?" Marco chuckled and went to help unwrap Star when Angie called up.

"Marco, a friend of yours has come to see you." Marco looked at Star who smiled and began hopping towards the door with Marco shrugging and following her.

"Um Star, shouldn't you unwrap yourself before going down stairs?" Star chuckled and began hopping down the stairs effortlessly making Marco smile at her. "I'm impressed, no way would I be able to do that." When they got to the bottom they saw Angie talking to Tom and the Wandering Hippie. They paused for a second to take all this in with Tom noticing them and calling out.

"Hey guys, what's up?" When neither Marco nor Star answered him he chuckled nervously. "Yeah, soooooo would you by chance be interested in hanging out…"

"No no a million times no Tom, I'm busy." Tom looked hurt at Star's reply but waved his hand in front of him before speaking.

"Oh nonononono I wasn't talking to you Star; that's kind of a quick leap from *ahem* you know…" And awkward silence hung over the trio as Angie looked on confused, Nacho continued to bat at the wires, and the WH looked nervous. "…I was wondering if Marco could hang out with me actually." Marco blinked in shock before replying.

"What? I thought you hated me." Tom shrugged and nodded with a sad look on his face.

"Yeah I kind of did; but the thing is it's not you directly that I hate it's what you represent. You shoved all the truth about me and Star into my face all at once, which I needed mind you, but that doesn't mean I had to *ahem* like what that meant. So now I want to… is it burying the hatchet?" Tom turned to the WH who smiled and nodded speaking up.

"Look Marco, I get why you are unsure of Tom and want to keep your distance but he is a really nice guy." Marco rubbed his chin a little considering it.

"I don't know man; it's kind of a quick leap to go from not killing me to hanging out like friends." Tom looked crestfallen at first but then pulled out something gold from his pocket.

"Well, I got these tickets to the Mackie Hand 8 hour movie event this evening because I know you liked it and wanted to know more about Mackie Hand after seeing 'Mackie Hand 2: Wrath of the Crouching Tigers'." Marco perked up at this speaking fast.

"Wait, you mean the movie event that was sold out for 2 weeks!" Tom and WH nodded in unison with Angie speaking up.

"You can go along with him Marco; just don't be sure to eat healthy instead of binging on snacks." Marco rubbed the back of his head before speaking again.

"I don't know, I get the feeling there has to be an angle on this somewhere." Tom looked bummed as the WH stepped forward and spoke.

"Mind if I talk to you for minute Marco?" Marco nodded and followed the WH to the side with Star following along. "Um, ok then I'll talk to both of you. Look first off; yes there is a catch to this. This is actually the final step in treating his anger management problems." Marco and Star both had looks of confirmed suspicion on their faces as the WH continued. "But that's not the only reason. You see…"

* * *

 _"Tom, we are so proud of you for your choice of actions tonight." A person that looked like an ordinary brown haired and pale skinned Mewman wearing dark red and black noble looking clothes spoke with a sense of pride in his blue eyes._

 _"You have shown a level of maturity and self-restraint that most people don't exhibit; and with all the little demons inside of you that is quite a feat." A very large twenty foot tall red skinned creature with large black cow horns, three glowing yellow eyes, and a black dress spoke next smiling profusely with tears in her eyes. As she wiped them away some fell onto the ground burning a hole in it._

 _"Yes, I'd say you have come quite the distance Tom." WH spoke happily with a nervous chuckle while holding an ice pack to his crotch. "But the question now is, are you ok? Do you want to talk or anything like that man?"_

 _Tom was wrapped up in a blanket holding a tattered stuffed giraffe along with his pink bunny while eating ice cream. As he did so he stared at a shrine of pictures of Tom and Star together with the main one being of the two kissing with the sunset behind them. He took another spoonful of ice-cream speaking through sobs._

 _"No *sob sniff* I just wanna cry and eat. *Sob*" Tom took another spoonful of ice-cream and continued sobbing while his parents and the WH looked on in concern._

* * *

"… he was like that for two weeks after the Blood Moon Ball. Look Marco, he needs a friend desperately and for some reason he really likes you; can you at least try to be that friend?" Marco rubbed the back of his head still looking concerned before he replied.

"I don't know. Star what would you say; I mean you did know this guy intimately." Star got this conflicted look across her face as she looked back at Tom who was laughing nervously as Angie spoke to him. "Star, I trust your judgement absolutely." Star looked at Marco blushing slightly before speaking.

"Well… take the dimensional scissors with you in case you need to bail and don't hesitate to call me if things go sour. Actually, text me once every 15 minutes so I know nothing has happened to you." Marco smiled and leaned in to hug Star making her blush more profusely as he spoke.

"I will do that, you have my word." Marco stepped away and walked over to where Angie and Tom were talking getting their attention. "I'm going with Tom tonight." Tom cheered and began leaping around with joy as Angie waited for him to finish before speaking.

"Well that settles it. Oh, and one more thing." Her cheerful face and voice went scary for a moment as she looked at Marco and Tom. "I will know if you binged on snacks instead of eating healthy food and dinner. And bring my son back as you found him demon or you will not like what happens next." Her face and voice went back to normal as she spoke to them. "Ok, have fun you two. Now then, Star let me help you out of that binding of wires."

Marco and Tom looked at each other chuckling nervously with traumatized looks on their faces as Angie went off to help Star before they went outside. Parked out on the street in front of the house was Tom's carriage with the flaming undead unicorn that pulled it. Marco turned to the undead Warnicorn and spoke.

"Hey man, everything doing alright?" The flaming beast nodded and spoke.

"Yeah, it's actually pretty nice being dead strangely enough." Marco smiled and boarded the carriage speaking to Tom.

"So Tom… man you got a nice set up here." Marco looked around the interior of the carriage seeing it easily took up ore space on the inside then the exterior could support.

"Yeah, got a widescreen plasma TV for video games and movies and what not. That there is the snack holder with a container full of Sugar Seeds, I know you like those, and completed with a mini fridge holding soda. A photo booth and karaoke machine that I helped refurbish; can you believe someone just threw those out?" A moan from the corner got Marco's attention. "Oh yeah, and that's my dad's white tiger; he sent it with me so I could care for it while he works." As Marco watched the tiger the cat Nacho, who had gotten on the carriage somehow, went up to the white tiger and curled up next to it promptly. "Um, is that guy yours?" Marco chuckled and responded as he watched the white tiger sniff it in curiosity.

"Yeah, just a guy Star poofed up at random and didn't just go away." Tom responded chuckling.

"Yeah, I should have guessed that given its strange face, the blue fur, and the fact that it has a snake for a tail. Now for a confession." Tom turned towards Marco speaking seriously. "We will be seeing the movie marathon but we won't be in the theater." Marco got a confused look on his face. "Hear me out, we will be watching it but the marathon will be streamed to this carriage. Because of this we can bypass all of the crowded lines, snobby geeks, and dirty theater seats. What do you say to that?" Tom looked at Marco hopefully with Marco considering it for a moment before responding.

"Is this legal?" Tom looked back and forth a little guiltily.

"Um, not exactly." Marco looked at him deadpan for a second before smiling.

"You know what, if you bought the tickets to support Mackie Hand, that's fine by me." Tom smiled and nodded with a look of relief on his face.

"Whew, thanks for understanding that man. I was afraid I had, you know, messed things up already by forgetting to tell you earlier." Marco chuckled and playfully punched Tom on the shoulder.

"Don't sweat it man, we're cool. Now, when is it starting?" Tom smiled and checked a clock on the wall.

"Not for about half an hour." As Tom was about to speak a horn honked next to them prompting Tom an Marco to look outside of the carriage. Next to them was a pair of 'cool stereotype' dudes driving a convertible with flames painted all over it. Both vehicles had stopped at a stoplight that had turned red and the 'cool dudes' called out to them.

"Yo dude, nice ride; you going to a funeral you're 200 years late to?" The guys laughed with the next one speaking.

"How much you get out of that, one horsepower?" Marco looked over to see Tom already at the boiling stage as the next one yelled out.

"What you use for fuel, grass?" As Tom seemed about to lose it, pulling out a random conch shell in the process, Marco called out to them.

"Well at least we know ours isn't compensating for something." Absolute silence fell on the two as Tom stopped simmering and started chuckling before speaking.

"Yeah, can't keep them around so you need to bring in more daily?" Marco began laughing at Tom as the two guys looked at each other and spoke.

"Dude, you thinkin what I'm thinkin?"

"Oh I'm thinkin it man."

"They're insulting our style man."

"Yeah, let's see if they can measure up?" They turned back to Tom and Marco with one speaking. "Dudes, you think your vehicle is better than ours? How about we put it to the test?" Marco and Tom smiled at each other with Tom replying.

"Oh… if only your vehicle was worthy of competition. We accept but I almost feel sorry for you." Marco smiled at where this was going and whispered to Tom.

"Let them pull ahead. Given your attitude about this carriage we could beat them but I have a better idea." Tom smiled and nodded. Both stared at the light they had pulled up to and looked at each other eagerly waiting for the light to change to green. As it turned green the convertible moved forward quickly with Tom looking at Marco expectantly with Marco counting down.

"Three… Two… One." A cop siren blared out and a police vehicle pulled out of hiding and immediately began chasing the convertible. "You see Tom, other people are ruled by their emotions as well with far less excuse then you have… I think. Jackie told me about the little demons and it has me confused." The carriage pulled by the convertible where the cops were actually pulling the guys out and making them do DUI tests. "I get the feeling they're going to jail." Tom chuckled and closed the window sitting on a couch in the room before speaking.

"Thanks man, that could have turned out bad." Marco chuckled and sat next to him.

"Yeah I know, don't want you to fail your anger management class you know." Tom looked over in fear as Marco calmed him down. "Don't worry man I get it. The Wandering Hippie told me about it but let's not let that fact ruin tonight. Tonight I induct you to the fanbase of 'Mackie Hand'!" Tom smiled and responded.

"I like that, I like that very much. So, before the movies start, tell me a bit about Mackie Hand." Marco smiled figuratively rolling up his sleeves before speaking.

"Well I'll try to get out what I can before the movies start. You see, Mackie Hand was one of the greatest American martial artists of all time and certainty the best who was an actor. He did all of his stunts himself and even changed them around to reflect real martial art moves as he felt that the one shot hits were 'not right' according to him. He was a part of multiple movies but he starred in three specifically; 'Mackie Hand: The Iron Monkey, 'Mackie Hand 2: Wrath of the Crouching Tigers', 'Mackie Hand 3: Flight of the Hidden Dragon'. He was shooting a 4th movie 30 years ago but died performing one of his stunts due to shoddy construction of a set." Macro sighed hanging his head slightly. "Hard to believe movies that old are that good huh?" Tom chuckled leaning back in the couch smiling before he replied.

"There are a lot of things that are really old that I believe are cool man, so nothing unusual." Marco chuckled and replied to Tom.

"Yeah you're right. In addition to the movies there is also an animated TV show called 'Mackie Hand Adventures' and a video game called 'Mackie Hand: Double Dare Kombat of the Street Fighters'…" Marco went on to explain more about the Mackie Hand fan base to Tom who just sat there and absorbed everything Marco said. Before Marco even seemed halfway through it however the event was beginning so Tom turned on the flat screen and they sat back to binge Mackie Hand with popcorn as Nacho played around with white tiger in the background. However as they were waiting for the first movie to start commercials started playing with Marco commenting.

"Well should have seen that coming. We'll just wait it out, no biggie." Toom thought for a second and asked Marco something.

"Um, how long are the Mackie Hand movies?" Marco opened his mouth to answer but froze in shock before getting anger and replying in annoyance.

"1 ½ to 2 hours each damnit; and with only three movies for an eight hour event I think we've just been played." Tom sat up realizing that at least two hours of the event were going to be nothing but commercials given what Marco had said. He pulled out his conch shell pushing it to his ear as Marco ranted a little. "This is not what movie events are supposed to be! Has even the sanctity of a honorary movie event become tarnished by excessively greedy capitalism!" Marco fumed a second before he felt the conch shell be pushed to his ear calming him down almost effortlessly.

"Easy man, they haven't won for us." Marco sighed as the conch worked him over while Tom continued speaking. "You seem to be forgetting we are streaming this and have a whole carriage to pretty much anything we want." At that Marco perked up smiling and spoke in a happy and relived manner.

"This reminds me of a song I really like. _You had me bound in the great pen house, what you didn't know was it was better in there. I may be a prisoner but I'm still hap.."_ Marco stopped realizing what he had just done and looked at Tom who giving him an unreadable look.

"Marco… are you a fan of the boy band 'Love Sentence'?" Marco looked around in concern as it was not exactly a good thing for a boy to love a boy band, even if it was one of the best boy bands to have ever existed.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm… yes." Marco squeaked it out in worry as Tom stood up.

"Follow me man." Marco followed Tom over to the back of the carriage with Tom pulling out a section of wall. "Behold and be amazed." Marco beheld… and was amazed at what he saw.

Behind the section of wall was a secret shrine dedicated to Love Sentence that was really well done. There were various pictures of Love sentence band members with one being of the whole group and one of Tom and their lead singer autographed by the lead singer. In a place of honor at the center rested a replica of the main guitar signed by the bands lead guitarist. Marco stood there in shock just trying to take it all in as Tom smiled at Marco amused by his reaction. Marco finally spoke in disbelief and awe as if the thing in front of him was too good to be true.

"Y-you are… a Love Sentence fan?" Marco turned to Tom who rubbed the back of his head a little bashfully.

"Well yeah, I know I don't look like the type of guy to like them but I do. Oh, and I got a surround sound stereo to play their music." Tom reached down and below the shrine and opened a panel revealing an impressive looking stereo music system.

 **Star vs. the Forces of Evil OST - Awesome Feeling (Extended Cut) watch?v=YuIuPE59E4I**

Flicking the switch music started playing of one of their songs with Marco and Tom dancing to it. After a minute of this the white tiger came up with Tom leaping on its back and Marco going along with him as Nacho trailed along behind them. The tiger leapt around for a while before the two leapt off of its back with Nacho leaping up in their place. The scene cut to Marco pouring cereal into Tom's mouth with soda to chase it down. Marco then does the same to himself going wide eyed and jittery before yelling out in ecstasy. The scene then cuts to Marco flying through the air as if leaping up while doing a swan dive. Tom does the same while impersonating what a stereotypical fancy gentleman would do when out for a stroll. Marco went flying again looking like he was kickboxing invisible opponents all around him. Tom flew through the air doing a strange twirl with Nacho leaping up onto him knocking Tom off balance midflight. Then the white tiger flew up with a neutral look on its face as if it was just tossed up at random before falling down.

Marco and Tom then grab the mikes from the Karaoke machine and start singing the music in unison as if they had rehearsed in the past. Nacho added to the excitement by leaping between their legs with the white tiger just watching them in confusion. The scene cuts again to photos being taken in the photo booth with the first one being them just falling over each other to get into the booth. The second one was of Marco standing up and rocking out to the music while singing. The third one was of Tom doing the same thing with Marco to the side looking at him and smiling. The fourth one was of Nacho leaping up into the air between Marco and Tom with them both leaning away from it smiling. The fifth one was of the white tiger sitting up looking confused with Nacho landing belly first on his head with a shocked look on its face with Marco and Tom laughing. **(end music)**


	41. Boy's night Out Pt 2

**SpongeBob narrator: Two party filled hours later.**

Marco and Tom were lying on the floor laughing at nothing while Nacho watched the commercials, that were still going on, as if hypnotized. The white tiger watched Tom and Marco unconcerned as Marco sat up seemingly buzzing from his high of Sugar Seeds with soda and turned towards Tom smiling a mile wide before speaking.

"Wow man, you are a really cool guy. I can't believe I am actually having this much fun with you." Tom laughed and replied.

"Yeah, I haven't had this much fun in YEARS man; this was the best idea ever to invite you to this." Tom smiled up at the ceiling with such a content and sweet smile that Marco felt pangs of pity for being so harsh to him.

"Say Tom, sorry about judging you so harshly; you are actually a nice friend." Tom laughed slightly before his face fell slightly and his voice dropped in tone.

"Yeah, but I wasn't like this once Marco; you were actually right to judge me the way you did at first." Marco's smile fell as their conversation suddenly turned serious.

"Um… why is that?" Tom blinked at Marco in confusion and sat up facing him fully.

"Wait, Star didn't tell you why we broke up?" Marco blinked in shock and shook his head with Tom sighing taking on a somber look. "I know tonight is supposed to be a party but I think you need to actually know what happened between us. The event itself is simple but the led up is anything but." Tom sat cross legged and turned towards Marco. "Know this, I won't judge you any less if you suddenly hate me after what I tell you but please do listen till the end. You see Star and I first met at her 10th birthday party with my parents bringing me along to build better relations with the resurging power that was the kingdom of Mewni. We met and got along despite both of us being shy from past occurrences that we... both experienced in some way or another with both of us being half breeds. I am actually half demon and half Monster despite the fact that I look like a straight up demon to you." Marco nodded with Tom continuing. "Well we hit it off as friends and grew close with each other becoming nearly as close as you and Star are now. Despite how it looks now we actually shared everything with each other including what happened in our pasts. Has Star opened up to you about that stuff yet?" Marc nodded his head yes answering somberly.

"Her hand was kind of forced due to some nightmares and shadows but yes; that's also where Nacho came from." Marco gestured to Nacho who smiled briefly at them before returning to its commercials with Tom speaking again.

"Well I began to want to protect her so that what happened to me and her in the past wouldn't happen to her again. I asked if we could become a couple and she seemed rather shocked that I would show interest in her despite that fact that she is extremely beautiful." Tom sighed sadly before continuing on. "Well when we announced it many people didn't react strongly but I noticed that people who picked on Star either stopped completely for fear of angering me or tried targeting me as well. I had anger issues even back then with far less self-control soooo…" Marco nodded understanding what could have happened with Tom's powers. "Star got worried about me and tried to help me out but there was only so much she could do and my parents wouldn't listen to her saying it was normal for demons. During this time I slowly got more and more 'possessive' of her thinking it would keep her safe from bullies, but in the end it only made things worse…"

* * *

 _A 12 year old Star tumbled through her window from Buck Beak's back smiling at the day feeling light hearted and bubbly. She looked around her room to double take in shock when she saw Tom standing in her room with an angry look on his face._

 _"Um Tom… what are you doing…" Tom held up his hand making Star fall silent._

 _"You just ran off like that into the Forest of Certain Death without telling anyone. Do you know you could have been hurt out there?" Tom's anger was clearly evident as he stared Star down her face becoming cautious._

 _"Tom I had Buck Beak, and I can defend myself to you know."_

 _"Star, do you even know how many people are out to get you?!" Tom's eyes were verging on his anger look making Star quiver in shock. He had been angry like this before but never at her. "Running around in the woods like that puts you at too much risk especially when you don't tell anyone you are out, most notably me!" Tom aggressively advanced on Star with Star backing away in fear. "I need to be with you to protect you!"_

 _"Tom, I can take care of myself when you aren't around. You don't need to treat me like property you know."_

 _"I do Star, I do." Star blinked in shock and grabbed her tail rubbing it nervously as Tom continued. ""Star, the people of Mewni won't respect you as a person no matter how much you please them or help them. The people are only keeping their distance because of what I will do to them if they hurt you, can't you see that?" Tom yelled at Star who was getting nervous and defensive as she retorted._

 _"Tom you have to stop this, I know people are after me but this isn't right. You don't have to do this." Star pleaded with Tom who took another step forward his anger completely consuming him as he spoke to Star in a low manner._

 _"I need to protect you Star one way or another…" Tom looked at Star who shined in such a beautiful light in his eyes. "…even if it's from yourself." Tom waved his hands with everything around them shaking._

 _Burning chains shot out from the dark corners of the room attempting to wrap around Star like serpents. Star leapt out of the way and began yelling at Tom._

 _"TOM STOP THIS!" Tom didn't relent though and sent the chains after Star, his anger making him blind to Star's pain and deaf to her words. Star leapt around the chains like she was dancing in a desperate attempt to reach Tom and to avoid the burning and writhing chains. As this kept up for a little while Star managed to break past the chains and got up to Tom slapping him across the face. "TOM, SNAP OUT OF IT!" The chains stopped for a moment and Tom looked at her not shocked but offended._

 _"I do this for you and this is how you treat me?" Star took a step back now terrified of Tom as he continued. "I will still protect you thought BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" With another wave of his hands a coffin launched itself in through the window and, before Star could react, trapped her inside of it. Mumbling some demonic chants Tom made the chains surround the coffin and seal it up tight with Tom's anger abating until he realized exactly what he had done. "Ah… Star I'm sorry. Don't worry I'll get you ou…" Tom didn't finish his sentence however before the coffin shattered with the chains going slack to the floor. Star stood there with her eyes a red veined cat pupil yellow as she yelled at Tom._

 _"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She then leapt at Tom and bit him in the convergence of neck and shoulder. Digging her claws into him she turned in a circle and threw him out the window her claws leaving bloody trails and her teeth tearing out a chunk of his shoulder. As Tom fell from the window he heard Star shout, "AND DON'T COME BACK YOU PSHYCO! IT'S OVER!" Tom felt his heart break as he landed in the courtyard feeling something in his body physically break. Tom got up slowly and in pain as he felt no anger, only a cold disgust with himself as he had caused all this with next to no provocation._

* * *

"… and that's how we broke up, completely my fault with no one else to blame. Mewni and Hell nearly went to war over what had happened until I actually confronted my parents in front of everyone and told them Star was right in me getting treated for anger management. My parents were shamed in front of everyone for knowing this issue and not addressing it to the point where they publicly apologized to Mewni and told them they would make any amends as Star's parents saw fit." Tom trailed off with Marco taking everything in dull shock before he spoke despite knowing Tom wasn't done speaking yet.

"So… you weren't… actually punished for…" Tom chuckled bitterly taking Marco off guard before taking off his shirt revealing a slim muscular physic with scars over parts of it.

"Oh don't you worry about that, they got me good." Tom turned his back to Marco showing him the bite mark Star had given him and what looked like claw marks along his sides as well as scars Marco recognized from descriptions his family had given in the past. Thick scars in lines ran across his back with ragged edges in such a way that showed Tom was whipped in the past by a powerful whip that had small bits of metal and fishhooks attached to the end. "The worst part was Star was the one who was allowed to whip me as it was she that was hurt the most. The look in her eyes… it was the strangest mixture of satisfaction and pain I had ever seen; like she wanted to whip me but didn't want too at the same time. It was also made a public spectacle so everyone kept away from me in the future meaning I had no friends; although it did make it so people left Star alone for the most part so something good did come out of that at least. *sigh* After that I got the Wandering Hippie to help treat me for my anger problems thinking I could win back Star eventually by showing her I could change. Of course, you know how that part of the story ended right?" Marco nodded in dull shock as he took everything in as it was A LOT to take in. "I failed there as well by still thinking of treating her as property as the best way of helping her… and now I don't think we will ever be friends again despite the close times we had with each other. The worst part is I didn't even see the full extent of the problem until you brought it up." Tom blinked with tears streaming down his face and he put his head down on his knees. "Now you see I'm a horrible person, not just because of what I had done but how I was in denial of it." Tom sighed as he pulled his shirt back on and just sat there with a defeated look on his face. "You can go home whenever you like now, I'll fail the final anger management test but frankly that's what I deserve." They both sat there for an unknown length of time until Marco came over and hugged Tom with Tom blinking in shock as Marco spoke.

"I know you're not a bad person because you actually feel regret for what you did and accepted all the facts of the situation by bettering yourself. Maybe Star will never forgive you for betraying her trust, which is understandable mind you, but you have overcome this and actually have become a really cool guy in my eyes. I can safely say we can be friends still despite what you did so long as you never do anything like that again." They sat in silence for a second until Tom clenched him tightly and began sobbing. Marco just smiled and held him close as Tom let out all of his pain and misery at what he had done to himself and Star for what seemed like hours. Finally though Tom calmed down and loosened his grip on Marco enough to back away and spoke.

"Th-thank you man. *sniff* you are the nicest person I have ever met *sniff* in the whole cosmos. *sniff sob*Take good care of Star for me like you have been doing already *sniff* and don't make the same mistake I did. *sniff sob*" Marco patted Tom on the back until Tom got up and walked over to the couch facing the TV and sat down. "If you don't mind I'm a bit worn out. Could we just sit here for a little while?" Marco nodded and replied.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a bit stretched out too." The two just sat there for minute with commercials still playing and Nacho watching hypnotized by them. After a little while however Marco turned back towards Tom. "Say… why did you pick me for tonight? I get you wanted someone to overcome your anger issues and potentially get a friend but how did you choose me over anyone else?" Tom smiled in a content manner and spoke softly.

"It was actually Jackie who recommended you." Marco blinked in shock as Tom continued. "After the Blood Moon Ball Jackie somehow got the Hippie's number and called for me asking if I was alright. After our initial conversation, in which she learned what you just learned, Jackie kept on calling back hoping to help me out. When I asked why she kept on doing so she claimed she had never seen a person whose bad actions actually had an understandable and relatable justification even if there were no excuse for them and thought I might actually be a decent person if I was able to control myself. After that I think we became friends as she has called me multiple times and, in one of those calls, recommended you for my final anger management test. She said you would understand and that we might actually get along very well with each other becoming best of friends." Tom looked at Marco smiling with a few tears of happiness in his eyes. "And she was right; I know for sure I am not your best friend but I think of you as my best friend now." Marco shifted in his seat a little before speaking to Tom.

"Well… I do think of you as a good friend now I think. We are going to need to let this friendship grow a little first though." Tom nodded as Marco continued. "Say, I think the commercials are almost over at long last, ready to see the awesomeness that is Mackie Hand?" Tom nodded eagerly with them turning to the screen with the opening credits to 'Mackie Hand: The Iron Monkey' playing.

 **SN: Several action packed movies later.**

Tom's carriage pulled up in front of the Diaz residence with a smell of fire and a sound of cart wheels and horse hooves. Night had gripped the entire neighborhood and there was no one walking or running about as the carriage door opened with Marco stepping out looking happy if tired. Tom poked his head out of the carriage door holding up a badge saying that he had finished his anger management class and passed with flying colors. Tom called out to Marco as he started up the walk to his house.

"Be she to say hi to Jackie for me and contact me if there's anything on earth that I may like." Marco turned back and gave a thumbs up to Tom before replying.

"And you be sure to keep your hands on that conch shell Jackie gave you." Tom nodded and held up the conch shell putting it to his ear with a look of bliss on his face as he pulled back into the carriage. Marco turned back to the front door and opened it up with his house keys, fortunately Janna hadn't gotten them, and went inside as Tom sped away. Looking around the family room he saw Star was waiting there with a worried look on her face and perked up when he came in. "Hey Star, I'm ho-" Star leaped at Marco from 10 feet away and caught him in a massive hug that sent them both to the ground.

"You're alright Marco, I was so worried about you!" Star gripped onto him tightly as she rattled off. "I kept on getting those texts from you but occasionally it would be delayed for a minute or so and I thought Tom had done something to you and you were at his mercy for…" Marco let Star rattle off for several minutes before she finally stopped. "I'm just glad you're ok." Marco smiled just held Star close until she pulled away looking at him with blueish-green eyes.

"don't worry about me Star, and honestly I don't think you need to worry about Tom ever again." Star blinked her eyes in confusion and suspicion as Marco continued. "Tom told me about what happened between you and him and… you are completely in the right for mistrusting him and not forgiving him." Star blinked with satisfaction on her face. "However…" Star's face went to a curious expression. "… I believe he has changed for the better. Tom knows you are never going to forgive him, and honestly I am not going to tell you to forgive him unless if you want to, but I think he and I are friends now. So you may see Tom in the future but he is never going to trouble you again as he will only be here for me unless if you want to be his friend again." Star stared at him in dumbfounded shock as she spoke slowly.

"You… trust him?" Marco smiled and nodded replying without hesitation.

"He is a good person Star and what's more I may be the only friend he has; I can't just leave him after he had gone through stuff like you had gone through." Star blinked and looked down blushing a little before speaking.

"I… hope you're right. I want to be able to be his friend again… but… after what he did…" Marco got the special comb out and began combing Star's hair making her purr softly.

"Take your time Star and let him regain your trust no matter how slowly it may take. From what I heard from him you two were rather close before you were a couple." Star nodded pushing into the comb and curling up next to him. "Just do what you feel is right and don't let anyone push you into anything." After sitting there for a few minutes Star looked at him with her still blueish-green eyes and spoke softly.

"Could you sleep with me tonight? The heater is working just fine but I need to know you are there." Marco nodded and got up with Star. The two of them sleeping together wasn't an unusual thing as sometimes Star needed him to heat her up as the heater wasn't working right or she had been having nightmares. Honestly Marco actually looked forward to these nights as he often slept too warm and her body sucked away heat from his rather nicely. After prepping for bed Marco slipped into Star's room and laid down with Star holding onto him from the front and snuggling her head into the crook of his neck. "Good night Marco." Marco wrapped his arms around Star holding her close and spoke softly.

"Goodnight Star."

 **Some of you were wondering what happened between Star and Tom, well here it is. Do you hate him, sympathize with him, pity him, are disgusted with him, or something else?**

 **But enough of these dramatic and soft adventure stories, time to get the plot moving again and some context of Mewni with a history lesson as we celebrate our "Mewnipendance" day.**

 **Oh and also, several oneshots have been published on my channel if you want to see them. Just saying. And for that one guest who requested the interview oneshot, that idea is so good I'm gonna make it a chapter of this story**


	42. Mewnipendance Day Pt 1

**Strap yourselves in this is gonna be a long one, like 3-4 parts. I have a lot of story to get out as well as character interactions to put into place and I want to do it right.**

 **To guest** **Daisy22bear if you are still reading, thank you for loving this enough to comment on it and you are the first person who commented to actually get the 'Frozen'** **reference; unless if they just didn't care about it which is understandable. Keep an eye out for** **references** **people, they are scattered all over the place.**

Star skipped through the hallways to the principal's office feeling slightly worried but not about what she had done, rather more about what the principal needed. Mr. Lancer sometimes called Star in for help for some of the most unusual requests, mostly involving getting to know the student body better as he had 'trouble' doing that himself. He even had this book he read that made him use a mixture of slang that Marco said came from the 60's and 90's. Star shook her head at this chuckling slightly at how he was seeking vision from someone nearly blind herself. The help she gave him mostly came through Marco and her other earth friends given how she wasn't born on earth and she had been detached from society somewhat for most of her life. She got to the secretary who nodded plainly giving out an exasperated sigh.

"Thank you so much for coming, he really has trouble catching up at times and associating with kids." Star shrugged and spoke while opening the door.

"Hey, what are friends for?" She stepped into the office to see Mr. Lancer was scribbling something down on some paper before groaning in frustration and crumpling it up. "You need help sir?" Lancer nodded and threw the paper to the side where it bounced out of a pile that overflowed the garbage can.

"Yes unfortunately. Have you heard of the history event day coming up?" Star nodded and then shook her head no as he spoke. "Well it's basically where the school spends a whole day devoted to a single event or time period in history with activities surrounding it. The problem is when I tried coming up with ideas nothing seemed to stick as they had all been done before or were too 'commonplace' in my opinion. You are well read on earth history and know what kids are interested in, or at least know kids who know what kids are interested in, what would you suggest?" Star thought for a moment going over events in her mind.

"Well kids often get bored easily so we need to make it about an exciting event. We also need to make it unique like not about just the USA history as they might actually get bored of most stuff there." Lancer chimed in.

"We also need to make it kid appropriate so the parents don't write in anger letters or e-mails to the school. And it should also be something kids can easily latch onto if they don't know much about it or its context in history. Oh and optional, an anniversary of a special event of it should be occurring on the day." Star nodded and thought a second before asking him.

"What day is that by any chance?" Mr. Lancer, putting his head in his hands pointed to a calendar that showed it occurred in several days' time. After a few seconds calculations Star smiled slightly taking Lancer off guard with her question. "Does it have to be 'earth history' that's the center piece?"

* * *

Marco sat in the Gymnasium looking around as people murmured to each other curious as to what this was about. The Principal had just asked for a major assembly out of the blue with every student being made to come in. Like in most school assemblies at Echo Creek a beach ball was being thrown around with dull amusement by everyone; the teachers had tried to stop it in the past but eventually gave up as it was not worth the effort. He looked to his left and right seeing Alfonzo, Ferguson, Janna, and Jackie just as curious and confused as he was with Alfonzo speaking up.

"I've got a feeling this has to do with the history day event coming up in three days' time. What do you guys think?" Janna groaned in annoyance before speaking.

"That day man? A day that's supposed to be interesting winds up boring every single time because of the need to make it 'child friendly' so parents won't get mad. Can't we go into some cool history like the story of Erzsébet Báthory the blood countess from Hungary? That would make the day interesting." Ferguson smiled and responded eagerly.

"Well who doesn't want to learn about an actual vampire of real life?" Ferguson's and Janna's smiles faded however as reality set in with Jackie speaking up.

"I for one want people to know about the Bikini Atoll nuclear testing and how that messed up multiple sailors for life. But that would 'put our government in a bad light' according to people man." Everyone looked in shock at Jackie using a sarcastic and bitter tone of voice she used. "What, can't I be upset over something?" Marco shrugged before speaking.

"Well how about we branch out of US history for once and go somewhere else in the world, like maybe the Latin American countries and their revolutions against the Spanish?" Everyone gave Marco a weird look as he continued. "You 'gringos' have no idea of the history south of the border do you?" Everyone chuckled at that with Marco smiling. "No biggie, but like Janna and Ferguson reaching out to European history I think we should reach outside of the United States as well." Everyone nodded in consent to that as the principal spoke up at long last.

"Attention people, attention." The beach ball flew through the air at him which he caught effortlessly and set down with the kids ooohhing in respect. "Today the assembly is about the history day upcoming for our school and as such this will be my first day hosting such an event. I am hoping for participation by students for this event in all aspects and know that we will not have a repeat of the 'Salem Trials' like we did last year with our colonial event." The crowd giggled at this with Janna smirking at her part in the memory. "This year our event is actually being co-hosted by the student Star Butterfly as this event is not from earth." The whole crowd went silent and stared in shock as Lancer smiled. "Thought it was going to be a boring year eh? Well since I am not the expert I am going to allow Star to present the event to you with sign ups after she is finished." He nodded and stepped aside with Star coming up from the side to the microphone. Though the average person would not be able to tell Marco could tell that Star was very nervous given the way her tail was twitching and how she was glancing around. Somehow her eyes meet with his and he nodded smiling at her making her calm down slightly before speaking.

"*Ahem*" She blinked at the noise the microphone made in shock a second before speaking again. "Hello, um this event is actually several events that happened on the same calendar date in history which I will be explaining down the line. Let's start with the origin of the day we are celebrating which, by chance, actually occurs on the same day as the historical event." Students chuckled at that nudging each other as Star continued. "The day is known as 'Mewnipendance day' which was a day once celebrated by the first Mewman colonists arriving on Mewni to have life, liberty, and corn while fleeing some vicious wars of ideology." Students nodded along slightly bored at how similar it was it the colonization of the Americas but still intrigued. "However there was conflict between the Mewman colonists and the native Monster tribes that inhabited the region; think Native Americans and European colonists." Everyone nodded at that with the Native American kids sighing solemnly at this. "This day was most celebrated by my ancestors because that was the day we 'supposedly' beat back a massive invasion of Monsters that wished to push us from Mewni." The whole audience could tell where this was going as the crowd got suspicious looks on their faces. "But it was a trick pulled by the first queen of Mewni Stahlberg the Seafarer who merely massacred thousands of innocent children, elders, and noncombatants to get an edge over the Monsters in a war for dominance." Star's voice seemed to be cracking at this with the audience looking on in sympathy knowing that she was half-Mewman and half-Monster. "And since then it was paraded as a victory of civilization over barbarism."

The student body watched silently as Star composed herself waving off Lancer being waved off by Star as he tried coming up. After a moment of composing herself she began speaking again with a firm look on her face.

 **EUIV : Guns Drums & Steel - Ana Tema ( watch?v=ieabE4h-ABo)**

"However the symbology of that day changed 22 years ago. During that time princess Moon Butterfly, my mother, had discovered how the queens of Mewni were being used as pawns to oppress Mewmans and Monsters alike and waged a war to end that reign of oppression. Her first true victory happened on this day in an event known as the Ambush of the Thundering Falls! The day that was meant to cow Monsters in fear became the day of their greatest triumph and officially started the second event going on known as The War of Moonlight Shadow! The time when Mewmans and Monsters banded together to destroy the Shadow Clause, a group that had kept Mewni oppressed for nearly 300 years in a time known as 'The Twilight Peace' or nicknamed by many 'The Cobra's Peace'." The students were enraptured by Star's passion over this day and just at how cool the events sounded. "After her first victory my mom led the combined might of the people of Mewni to victory after victory showing people she was not just a spoiled child running away from responsibilities but someone to be respected for her dedication to the people of her kingdom."

"She is really getting into this." Marco commented with the other nodding at the passion and emotion now in Star's normally quiet voice.

"My mom officially won the first part of the war not one year later when Queen Willow Butterfly shook off the shackles the Shadow Clause had put on her and surrendered to mom without a fight. Since then my kingdom has thrived and because of the significance of this day I wanted to share it with you all; you who have treated me so nicely despite being a complete stranger." Everyone in the audience applauded at Star's smiling face. "Now I know this is asking a lot out of you people, but there is very little in terms of a school budget to make this an event that you would all deem adequate. So, will you help me host this event so I can teach you about how people can overcome oppression and build a better future for themselves?" At this the audience roared with approval applauding Star as she smiled at everyone happily with tears in her eyes before handing the microphone back to Lancer who began speaking.

"Alright people, if you want to sign up for participation just go to the…" He didn't finish his sentence however before kids flocked towards the sign up station where the secretary was looking at the rush in concern. "… LORD OF THE FLIES ease up kids, ease up!" Lancer leapt at the surging crowd in a vain attempt to contain it with Star rushing in to help him nervously. **(end music)**

 **SN: One brutal sign up process later**

Marco and company walked over to the sign up area where Star was standing almost giddily looking over the list of people who signed up. Next to her the secretary was looking frazzled and Lancer was still trying to figure out what just happened. As they came up he turned to Star and outright asked her,

"What exactly just happened, I'm still trying to process it." Star giggled and looked up smiling as she responded.

"I just saved you several thousand dollars by getting people to sign up to help you out. This could be a great chance to 'get in the low' with the kids." Star noticed her friends coming up and smiled enormously. "Hey guys… where's Oskar?" Marco groaned and answered as the others chuckled.

"Skipping class… again. I don't care how nice he is that boy is one LAZY guy." Janna shrugged at that and put her arm around Marco before speaking.

"Hey, you're doting like a disappointed father again Marco; and what's more he will come to this event if we tell him how much it means to Star right?" Marco nodded begrudgingly with Janna slyly smiling. "So let's get signing up, I want to see if we do any battle reenactments." Alfonzo came up signing his name in while speaking.

"I wonder if some of Star's other world friends will come in and maybe get to see her actual parents as well." Star sighed shaking her head getting everyone's attention.

"Some people I know will come if I ask them but my parents have the kingdom's celebration of this event to plan out for." Everyone nodded in understanding with Star turning to Marco. "Say would you mind helping me in planning? I also want you be to be my partner for the final duel between the two queens's; I'll be mom and you can be grandma." Everyone chuckled at that with Marco giving Star a strange stare.

"Um, wouldn't a girl be a better person for that; and someone who can actually fight on your level?" Star got a sad face as she replied.

"But you are one of the best fighters at the school, you beat me off during Mewberty right?" Marco nodded begrudgingly. "And you can also pull off a dress better than most people in this school can, even the principal." Everyone blinked in shock and turned towards Lancer who chuckled at the comment.

"You are the first person in more than two decades who picked up on that Star. You know that picture on my desk that is of my sister?" Everyone nodded. "That's actually just me in a dress." Ferguson and Alfonzo stifled chuckles while Janna rolled on the floor in laughter with Jackie giving Marco an 'interested' look.

"So will you do it Marco?" Star faced him with big soft eyes going that beautiful purplish-green color that left Marco speechless for a minute before speaking.

"Of course I will Star, this day means so much to you and I want to learn more about the positive aspects of your world." Marco signed up with Jackie now looking a bit strained as she spoke.

"Say, are you sure you can handle this man?" Marco nodded looking up at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry, for once the 'safe kid' aura about me will actually help out for once." Jackie nodded before speaking.

"Say can I talk to you for a minute?" Marco came over with her to the side as everyone else signed up with Star bouncing around in joy. "Say, could you potentially get off early as you seem to be forgetting our…" Jackie trailed off with Marco smiling before speaking.

"I didn't forget about date night. Don't worry I will try to get off in time; and I'm sure I will be free throughout the day so we can have a Mewman history date. I just want to help Star with today as it means so much to her you know and I want to completely reassure Star she can trust me after that field trip incident. She kind of has trouble trusting people you know." Jackie nodded sympathetically. "This is Star and she will understand; she would do anything for me like I would do anything for her." Jackie smiled at Marco's enthusiasm only to get a slightly pained look on her face as Marco turned back and walked up to Star. "Say, what should be the main events?" Star turned towards Marco and began speaking fast.

"Well, first off we need to set up activities that will get kids to know Mewman life and…"

* * *

Dumnorix watched the screen with a mixture of suspicion and fascination as the image of Marco and Star talking about a school event played out. He had to admit it did prove rather useful to have something no one would suspect as an eye on their prize. He looked over to Mavis and Mildrew with the latter looking satisfied and the former looking… 'Not well in the slightest.' Dumnorix thought to himself. Mavis was red eyed and rubbing her nose slightly as she drank her tea a bit too eagerly with a strange chuckle that rattled her frame ever few seconds. She looked up at Dumnorix and smiled in a jittery fashion and spoke eagerly.

"This is brilliant is it not." Dumnorix went for a response when she paused but she cut him off. "Of course it is, we don't need to be in person to spy on her now. We can see her in any place and anytime that we wish too." Mildrew chuckled slightly and spoke.

"Indeed. Now we can get reports in immediately from the front and go into areas even Selene can't get too despite her stealth." He nodded in respect to an annoyed Selene who seemed to be poutting in the corner.

Mavis spoke up again eagerly. "Yes yes, we can see her anywhere. Her classroom, her bedroom, her living room, her closet, even in the bathroom." The trio in the room with her perked up at this uncomfortably and went to raise complaints.

"Uhhhhhh…"

"Well ok, maybe not there that's a bit extreme. But still we can see her anywhere." Mavis squirmed in her seat joyfully as she turned back towards Selene. "Hey you are still a warrior in arms with us my friend you are far from useless so stop pouting." Dumnorix noted the unusually harsh tone in Mavis's voice and noted down another thing off about her. "Mildrew, ready the warriors and give out our new plan." Mildrew nodded and bowed gracefully.

"It shall be done mylady." And with that he walked out of the room with Dumnorix and Selene following him. Looking back he saw Mavis in a jittery fashion drink from her cup with a look of annoyance on her face as if it wasn't satisfying for some reason. He turned to Selene and spoke softly to her.

"I have a bad feeling about Mavis, she is not acting 'normal' as one would say." Selene looked at him with a sour look on her face before replying.

"That's not what's annoying me, it's just this day in general so save your brotherly care for later." She split away from him leaving him worried for multiple reasons as Mildrew called out.

"Gather round warriors gather round, we have a new battle strategy to go over." Mildrew rallied the gang who came over from whatever they were doing in the common area with some calling out to others. "As you all know in several days' time is a holiday we all have 'complicated' emotions about, Mewnipendance day." The group moaned in protest with voices popping up.

"Solaria would be disappointed."

"What happened to Mewni for the Mewmans."

"Our greatest victory disgraced so pitifully."

"I lost my father and uncles in that ambush."

Mildrew quieted everyone down before speaking. "Well we all know about it and the fact that celebrations go on in many areas." The group groaned again with Mildrew now smiling. "Which is going to leave Star vulnerable." Everyone looked at him in interest as he continued. "Star will be surrounded by people who will defend her that day but she will not 'know' everyone she is surrounded by. And with adequate disguises some of us could sneak in and nab the wand undetected." Looks and voices of eagerness and concern came up with Mildrew cutting them off. "Now I know what you are thinking, how will we escape once we have the wand? Well instead of running off with it…" He brought up some sort of mace holding it aloft. "… why don't we just…" He pushed a button on it opening the head of the mace revealing a miniature dimensional portal. "… portal deliver it so we don't need to escape with it. Star will be less likely to pursue if we don't actually have what she wants." The group nodded in respect and began smiling at this with Mildrew turning now towards Selene. "As since you are our master in stealth, you will lead the retrieval." Selene smiled in a mean fashion mow rubbing her hands together before speaking.

"Oh, it would be a…" Mildrew held up his hand cutting her off.

"You will avoid combat at all costs, this mission relys on you not fighting. You will get your chance to fight the guardian but for now you must lay low." Selene nodded somberly at that with Mildrew pulling something out. "And you will need a disguise. Fortunately your frame means that people will mistake you for one of the kids so that should be no trouble." Selene's face went red with rage while the other warriors backing away in fear as she looked at the frilly dress Mildrew held. Before she could speak Dumnorix spoke up.

"Um, perhaps a different style of clothes would be best as formal wear is not being used for this event from what I can tell." Mildrew looked at him nodding in acknowledgement with an almost bewildered look on his face as if he should have thought of that.

"Indeed… I leave the choice of wear up to you Dumnorix. You… pick whomever you deem best to provide support in case you need to retreat." He bowed to him before walking off with everyone looking up at Dumnorix and Selene speaking.

"So… what do you have in mind?" Dumnorix watched Mildrew shake is head in confusion as if asking how he got to where he was before replying.

"Ok, so this is going to be a family event as far as we can tell so we need people who can either go individually as kids or as a family group..."


	43. Mewnipendance Day Pt 2

**Whoever stole my motivation for the last week or so know it makes no difference, I got another bit. Now, on with the slightly delayed story.**

Marco stood up heaving a sigh of relief that the set up was finally done and looked around to see the kids were now arriving at school. Most of the work for setting up for the event had happened last night with the student body providing most of the heavy lifting much to Principal Lancer's relief. Marco was still surprised that so many students had volunteered to help Star out despite how popular she was. Then again after Brittany's birthday Star had become the school's mascot of sorts; beloved by everyone due to her shy but kind nature. Marco looked to the side seeing Star come up next to him nearly hopping from foot to foot in excitement as she spoke.

"I'm so happy everyone is so into this Marco, this is like a gigantic party now." Marco chuckled and smiled before responding to Star.

"Well I should hope so; most of the student body contributed something to this." Star smiled at Marco who rubbed the back of his head. "I mean we even got Oskar to pull his own weight, which is impressive no matter how you put it." Star smiled slyly at this before speaking.

"Well when I mentioned Tempest was coming he just couldn't seem to resist helping us." Star waggled her eyebrows at Marco before continuing. "You think Oskar is gonna make his move soon." Marco chuckled and leaned against the stand they had finished setting up letting his arms fall down by his side.

"Well if he does I wish the best for him; it's no small feat confessing to someone you know." Marco looked around at the kids coming in for a second with Star speaking up in a softer tone of voice.

"You know the teachers and Lancer have the organization under control, go find Jackie until I call for the duel." Marco looked at Star with slight worry in his eyes. "Don't worry, we can handle this. Besides you should enjoy a laid back day with Jackie, she deserves that." Marco nodded smiling as he responded.

"Yeah, I have been going over the top for her quite a bit so something toned down would be nice. See you later." Marco hugged Star quickly before running off with Star having to force her smile for a minute before it came back naturally whispering to herself.

"It's ok you are just friends, that's more than enough." Star shook her head before skipping off to where some kids were playing 'Whack the Forest Barbarian'.

* * *

"Everyone set?" Dumnorix looked over the group of infiltrators who nodded before he resumed talking. "Ok, here are you aliases. You three are going under the trench coat as three kids trying out a disguise and seeing how many people buy it." The Danter triplets nodded at him as they put on the trench coat. "You will be the chaperone for a group of kids but decided to let them run wild as the event seems surprisingly secure." Michael nodded binding up his beard to make it chest height instead of foot height. "And you will be one of the kids of a nieghboring school come to see what this is all about on a dare." Selene nodded wearing what earthlings described as a 'rock punk' outfit. "Now, get into positions and get the scissors out and cutting, I just need to get that mace Mildrew has created for you Selene." Dumnorix walked off as the plans were finalized looking for Mildrew which he found rather quickly. He noticed Mildrew was futzing with the mace a little messing with the button as if in a trance. "My lord, we are ready." Mildrew snapped out of his trance looking around a second as if getting his bearings. 'My lo…" Mildrew held up his hand shaking his head a little before handing the mace the Dumnorix with a smile.

"Just getting a little paranoid and making sure the device works my comrade. Must have gotten lost in thought." Dumnorix narrowed his eyes slightly at Mildrew's genuinely disoriented demeanor and felt a little worry. "Oh, and just to be on the safe side." Mildrew took out his black sword and waved it in a figure eight fashion creating a trio of black red eyed lizards. "This will give us a clear view of what is going on out there. If we have no other choice we can burst in and take them by surprise as my sword can cut a portal but it will leave me temporarily weakened." Dumnorix nodded and spoke slowly.

"Are you ok, you have been acting 'off' the last few days." Mildrew blinked in genuine confusion and spoke haughtily.

"I'll have you know I am in top condition despite your worries. I appreciate the concern but we must focus on the task in front of us am I right?" Dumnorix nodded and walked off as with the mace and the lizards Mildrew called out. "Oh, and have Selene test the mace on an item before she goes in for the wand, better safe than sorry you know." Dumnrix nodded at the man's wisdom and approached Selene who was looking a little anxious.

"Are you ready for this sister in arms?" Selene nodded eagerly at Dumnorix's words and reached out for the mace before he stopped her. "Now remember, we ONLY get the wand from Star and do nothing else to her or her guardian. I know what the boy has done to humiliate you and what the princess's mother let happen to your family but you must be cold as ice here. If not, you will fail and you know this to be true." Selene seemed to repress something inside of her before speaking.

"Yes brother in arms, I will be cold as ice to retrieve what Star processes." Dumnorix nodded and handed her the mace speaking softly.

"Test it on something before going in for the kill discreetly. I want to be sure we can actually get the wand. And give these to the others and yourself." Selene nodded and took the lizards before tucking the mace away and ran to where her portal would be opened.

To keep it harder for them to be detected they would come in through three different portals at different times with the last one bearing the scissors. Dumnorix smiled as the triplets went through their portal after accepting one of the black red-eyed lizards upon their shoulders. He looked at the ones on Selene and Michael nodding in respect to the power Mildrew still had to conjure these nifty little spies up with his sword. 'Now we watch and wait.' He thought to himself as the group gathered to watch the plan unfold through the lizards' eyes.

* * *

Lancer looked around with an eagle's eye trying to spot any discrepancy for the rules or people bending them in the wrong way. He knew the kids were supposed to have fun but after their display in signing up and what he had seen happen when kids had too much fun he was not taking chances. He did chuckle to himself in amusement as kids watched someone show them how to make candles in the 'colonial' fashion by dipping strings in tallow. 'Amazing what kids can get into if they put their phones down for a minute.' Lancer thought to himself just as he heard an explosion from not far off. Lancer immediately made for where it came from sweating slightly at how someone got explosives into this school event and turned a corner with his jaw dropping before exclaiming in shock.

"WAR OF THE WORLDS!" In front of him was what appeared to be a shooting range of some sort with multiple practice targets either having crossbow bolts stuck in them, were burnt up, or in one instance was a shattered crater of sorts.

"An that's ow we used technology to beat the knights on open fields an in skirmishes." Lancer blinked in shock turning towards where he heard the female cockney accent coming from.

There was a crowd of kids cheering on a woman wearing some sort of 'steampunk' mechanics garb of sorts holding some sort of crossbow. 'Or at least I think it's one, it looks like no crossbow I've ever heard of.' Lancer thought to himself as he walked up to the woman speaking.

"Um this is school event, who are you and who invited you?" The crowd seemed to groan as the woman turned to look at him in annoyed confusion before speaking.

"I was invited ere by my niece Star; who are you to call me out as such?" The crowd giggled as Lancer tried to wrap his mind around this before speaking.

"Um… the school principal of course." The woman blinked in confusion for a second and then smiled and replied.

"Oh of course, Mr. Lanceh. Noice to meet you my dear sir, my name is Helsinki Greyjoy; no point in calling me Ms. Greyjoy jus Helsinki will do." She grabbed his hand and shook it rapidly with a tight grip making Lancer shake as the students laughed out loud. "An don't worry about the students hurtin themselves, only toy practice bows for them." The students groaned at that with Helsinki turning an eye on them. "Hey, I'm not happy with it either but safety seems to be number one priority here. If you want to engage you follow is rules." She pointed towards Lancer with the students grumbling slightly. "My bots will get you all set up to practice until the next group is ready to be let in so chop chop." She clapped her hands with some 'steampunk' automatons coming up to help the students along while Helsinki turned to Lancer. "I think you might want to talk wit me don't ya." Lancer nodded before composing himself and speaking.

"What exactly did you do just two minutes ago that could have threatened the students?" Helsinki shrugged and spoke nonchalantly.

"I was jus showin them ow my torch-bow worked wit bolts an fire shot. I also threw in a new style plinker launcher, what you might call a 'grenade', just for effect." She looked at his shocked expression before continuing. "What, life isn't all about safety you know, let the kiddies ave fun shootin stuff up and see stuff be shot up." Lancer looked to the side to see kids shooting crossbows at the target dummies now and sighed pinching the bridge of his nose.

"While I am all for showing kids these types of details do you know how many complaints I'll be getting from their parents? More than zero, and that's a bad thing for a Principal in my position for such a short time." Helsinki shrugged again and spoke much to his annoyance.

"Well screw them, if they are as desperate for you as Star says you are then they will overlook this." Lancer looked up in confusion as Helsinki continued. "Star as gone on about you a good deal my dear chap though it mostly comes through what er parents ave told me of you from er. She really looks up to you ya know." Lancer out right blushed at this and smiled in an abashed fashion rubbing the back of his head.

"Well I'm just doing my job as Principal and Star has helped my quite a bit. I must admit I have actually grown quite fond of her in many ways. She's a little helper and in my opinion should be the example other students strive to be like." Helsinki chuckled making him look back in confusion with her speaking coyly.

"You don't get out much do ya?" Lancer blinked at her in confusion. "I'll admit Star is a fine girl but she as to 'bookish' and brooding a life style for me to practice. I prefer working wit me hands at a workshop bench or rolling in mosh pit wit me mates on an off night. Maybe it would be fun for you but not for me." She smiled at him as Lancer blinked in confusion and then smiled in an understanding manner speaking slowly.

"Yeah, I kind of heard that in the past from multiple people in different ways honestly. But I've picked my life and I enjoy it as fun is a matter of perspective. When kids reach the point of passing out of the portal to school for the last time brimming with knowledge and ready to face the world, that is what I deem 'fun'. Although the words satisfying would be much better here. That is my life and it is 'fun' the way your life is 'fun' for you… I think." He snapped back to reality facing Helsinki as she slowly clapped with a small smile on her face.

"You are a dork in all of the right ways." Lancer blinked blushing slightly as Helsinki giggled. "Say, I noticed you ave been lookin at me torch-bow right?" Lancer blinked as he had not but she seemed to be trying to make conversation so he nodded and went along with it speaking up.

"Yes. I am familiar with a wide variety of crossbows from all around the world but I have never seen your variety except for fantasy stories or steampunk aesthetics." Helsinki outright giggled at that and hefted hers up for him to see speaking in factual terms.

"Well it's me own design that I originally made when I was 14." Lancer looked over the crossbow seeing that it was pretty similar to a Chu-ko-nu with an EXTREMLY heavy draw strength. He also noticed some mechanics that probably aided in the pulling back of the string and a strange canister with a small nozzle pointed out next to the bolt rest. "It can be used as an ordinary crossbow sniper style or you can activate these levers…" She tapped on a part of the stock making two small winching levers pop out to the sides. "…and twist these to activate rapid fire mode. With the current style of mine holding up to 20 arrows in the quiver…" She patted the small box that sat above the bow. "… you can keep up sustained fire for quite some time. It can also function as a flame thrower." Lancer blinked in shock and looked at her speaking up.

"Ok, that is a massive claim. How did you accomplish that?" She chuckled tapping on the small canister before speaking.

"We use this new style of liquid known as the 'Molotov' named after earth's Molotov cocktail." Lancer shivered as she continued laughing. "This canister can shoot flames for a good 60 seconds before you need to reload. Although you do need to make sure the lighter is working or you're just shooting liquid everywhere." Lancer looked the Torch-bow over and looked at Helsinki with interest in his eyes.

"Can I see how it works… responsibly of course?" Helsinki gave him a wolfish grin that sent shivers down his spine. But for some strange reason it was out of excitement and not fear which only heightened the sensation.

"Twould be my pleasure…"

* * *

Oskar strummed his keytar sitting on the ground as Floyd preened himself right behind him in a slightly agitated manner. Oskar may have looked relaxed to everyone passing by but Floyd could sense something was up and chirped softly at Oskar. He looked up to his bird and smiled strumming his instrument with a bit more vigor sending Floyd into a spiel of soft chirps. Oskar spoke softly to Floyd as people came up and began snapping photos like they had for the 15th time so far today.

"Man, no need to get so worked up. I'm fine man." Floyd chirped at him as if to say 'Not exactly.' Oskar nodded in consent sighing. "I'm fine, but I'm nervous man. I mean me and Tempest have a good thing going you know and I want to make it go right. Make our rhythms slide together in multiple ways if it would work man. Problem is I'm playing with no sheet and have nothing but improve to get me through." Floyd chirped as if laughing and began preening Oskar's hair revealing his almost unnaturally big and beautiful green eyes.

Oskar thought back over the last few months since he and Floyd had gotten to know each other and surprised himself yet again with how much he cared for that bird. Created from literal magic due to a mistake on Star's part to cause havoc the bird had actually proven to be a rather loyal and gentle friend; though its talons could still rip and tear if forced to protect its friends. Oskar had never thought of himself as an animal lover until Floyd came into his life like the friend he never knew he needed. He looked up at Floyd again and threw him some mystery meat that his mom kept on serving that Floyd seemed to love so much. As Floyd munched with a strange purring noise Oskar sighed at how Floyd was even closer to him then his mother at times, that damn cold bitch. It wasn't that she did anything bad to Oskar outright but she was just never there to begin with and when she was there seemed only concerned about whether he would be a distraction for her or not. He shook his head trying to get thoughts of his mom out of his head and reached up to scratch Floyd's right ear making his eye's go half-lidded in pleasure. As he did so a familiar voice called out to him.

"Hey man, you made it." Oskar perked up and looked over at Tempest feeling his breath be taken away.

He didn't know how to describe it but Tempest just made him want to perform in ways he normally didn't think of. The way his bluish-green eye's and purple streaked blond hair meshed with his pixie wings and elf ears made him seem like something out of a story book of beautiful elf princes. Ironically it was seeing an image while reading one of those books that made Oskar realize he liked men when he was surprisingly young. Given the way they had also bonded really well it just made Oskar like the half-pixie even more then he thought he would. He spoke up quickly hoping he wouldn't be caught staring at Tempest for too long.

"Of course I did man. Star needed help with something like this so I helped her out as friends should." Tempest laughed at this and pulled out his flute before speaking.

"So you been practicing the new piece I experimented on? Tell me what you think of it." Oskar smiled showing off his vampire like teeth as he replied.

"It's awesome man especially for a first draft. Of course there needs to be work done to it but that is easy if you just play it through a few times to figure out how it works." Tempest nodded and looked away in the direction an alarmed yelp in the distance and spoke.

"Looks like hoodie boy and his girl are having a nice day." Oskar looked up to see Marco had caught Jackie after she had tripped over something with them both laughing.

"Yeah man, nice for those two to actually be together after Marco was putting it off for literal years." Tempest chuckled and spoke to Oskar.

"Say let's get going, hopper wants us to add 'atmosphere' to the situation here. You up for it man?" Tempest looked at Oskar in anticipation as Oskar answered oting the nickname Tempest had for Star.

"Of course man, always ready to…" Floyd then knocked on Oskar a little startling him and Tempest. Oskar looked up to see Floyd giving him an expectant look and motioned to Tempest. Oskar sighed and turned back to Tempest. "Actually man, there's something I wanna ask you." Tempest noted the change in tone and fluttered on closer lighting down next to Oskar putting them at equal head height. "Man you have been one of the greatest people I have met in a long time, not just someone I can play music with but someone I can actually talk to." Tempest blinked in concern as Oskar locked eyes with him and spoke softly. "We have a good thing going so… I was wondering… if maybe…" Tempest patiently waited for Oskar to speak as silence dragged on as he sensed that this was VERY important. "… we could be… I don't know… more then JUST friends?" They stared at each other in silence for a second before Oskar spoke again. "I mean if you just view me as a friend that's just fine we can still be friends but… well… you know…" Oskar trailed off with Tempest giving him a soft smile before speaking.

"Of course I'd be willing to give it a try man." Oskar blinked in shock as Tempest basically accepted his confession. "I can actually talk to you without concern, you understand my music and help me out like I help you out, and you are pretty damn cute as well with your vampire like teeth and long hair. And I just love the way you hold yourself around people; cool and laid back." Tempest frowned slightly as Oskar's eyes began to tear up. "Man you ok?" Oskar smiled and nodded wiping the tears away before speaking.

"I just *sniff* didn't think you would think of me in the same way. I mean honestly I wasn't even sure if you like dudes or not." Tempest laughed at that and spoke lightly.

"I get it man, the nervousness of these things can hold people back at the best of times. Actually I'm bisexual and play for both teams if you know what I mean." Oskar blinked in shock as Tempest chuckled putting his arms around Oskar's neck. "Most pixies tend to be like that you dang purist. Now give me some sugar man." Tempest then leaned in and kissed Oskar who eagerly accepted it.

They sat there for little while just kissing until they heard something that sounded either like girls screaming in delight or coyotes howling in pain. They both looked up in shock to see a group of girls watching them while taking pictures and squeeing in delight. Some of them did this with bloody noses or even drool coming from the corners of their mouths. Tempest and Oskar looked back at each other in fear and separated with Oskar speaking.

"Perhaps we should get going man." Tempest nodded in agreement speaking fast.

"That is a wise decision." They both tried walking away slowly but the crowd started following them with shouts coming from them.

"Where are you going so fast?"

"Come on nothing to be ashamed of."

"We just love seeing love."

"Let me have some sugar too."

The two looked at each other in worry and nodded leaping onto Floyd's back and getting him to take off with the yaoi fangirls in close pursuit.


	44. Mewnipendance Day Pt 3

Alfonzo looked around himself smiling at the event and then heaved a tired sigh walking through the area holding onto a candle he made himself at one of the areas. His friends had split up to enjoy the day as Oskar went with Tempest to perform music, Marco was taking Jackie out on a 'date' in potential compensation for the evening, Janna and Ferguson had gone off to only they knew where to do 'spooky magical' stuff, and Star had to help manage the event. It was at times like these that he wondered where exactly he fit into the group of friends. It's not that he didn't like the fact that others did stuff without him but… As he mused his attention was gotten by a piece of crumpled up paper rolling into his path. Blinking in confusion he picked it up and unfurled it to see a surprisingly well done picture of a warrior in some sort of hybrid of a medieval knight and Samurai armor. Blinking in confusion he turned towards where it had been thrown and saw the girl he recognized as Chloe Park drawing with some annoyance in her eyes. He also noticed Chloe sitting in front of some sort of suit of armor that appeared to be a 16th century full plate 'knight in shining armor' type but with a helmet, face mask, shoulder Greeves, and a type of plate kilt protecting the thighs that were clearly taken from Samurai armor that matched the drawing he had just picked up. The plates appeared to be covered by black lacquer, likely to protect against rust, with the only notable features on it being a pair of deer antlers on the helmet and the face piece looking like some sort of demonic cat.

"Well I knew the knights that served Star's family would have worn armor but I never thought it would be like this." Alfonzo thought aloud making Chloe look up from her work double taking at someone just standing there. "The appearance works even though it looks off for some reason. Makes sense considering this is another dimension and all that." He looked over at Chloe and smiled standing next to her. "I honestly think you did a decent job with this drawing and got the basic image of it down if you want my opinion." Chloe chuckled before replying.

"I'm not just trying to get the basic idea down, I'm trying to envision these warriors in poses or in battle to get a feeling of what they are like. That is a lot harder than you might think. Especially since it feels like I'm pushing together two completely separate cultures when drawing this." Alfonzo nodded giving her that point and sat down next to her speaking again.

"Well perhaps you just need to get an idea of what the kingdom and world it comes from is like. I mean this is from another dimension entirely right?" Chloe nodded with Alfonzo gaining some concern in his voice. "You aren't alone as well today are you?" Chloe froze for a moment before nodding and replying.

"This is by choice though, I recently went through something that… made me question who I was and I needed distance from people." Chloe looked like she wanted to say more but then another voice called out.

"Oh it's 'Batman' nice to see you again." They both looked up to see Alexis Avarius walking up to them smiling slightly at Alfonzo. "Despite claiming you had no combat abilities whatsoever you did pretty well against those cookie beasts eh?" Alfonzo blushed slightly as Chloe stifled a giggle and spoke.

"Is this a friend of yours?" Alexis spoke up again before Alfonzo could.

"I would say so, a friend of Star is a friend of mine." Alfonzo noticed Chloe wince ever so slightly as Alexis sat down next to them. "Say, you wouldn't by chance be drawing that armor over there would you?" Chloe nodded looking a little nervous at Alexis's straightforwardness and spoke.

"Yes, but I'm having trouble getting it right because it just feels weird looking at armor like that." Alexis blinked in confusion with Alfonzo speaking up.

"On our world it looks like you combined two armor styles from opposite ends of the world." Alexis nodded showing she understood completely with Alfonzo getting an idea. "Say, if you're not busy would you mind helping her figure out how to make sense of this and join us for the day?" Chloe looked at Alfonzo in shock as Alexis smiled broadly and replied.

"And here I thought I was going to be wandering aimlessly due to losing my uncle and Star and Tempest being busy; sure friends. Say are you a friend of Star as well?" Alexis stared at Chloe who nodded softly with Alexis clasping her in a tight hug. "Excellent, then we can be friends. The name is Alexis Avarius of the house Avarius." Chloe gulped slightly as Alexis pulled back and spoke softly.

"Chloe Park is my name uh friend." Alexis smiled even more widely and went to lead Alfonzo and Chloe around the event while speaking.

"Well where to begin? Should I get to know you guys better first or talk about what Chloe needs help with? Well how about I mix it up in a wide array of…" 'Well, this got interesting… I think.' Alfonzo thought to himself as Alexis spoke.

* * *

"Shhh, will you be quite. People are going to notice if a skeleton head starts talking." Ferguson spoke in a whisper as Janna groaned in annoyance turning to him.

"Well you are gonna attract attention by saying it out loud dumbass. Just keep it cool and we could get some new ingredients to match those I swiped from that museum. We are gonna be a genuine witch and sorcerer with these." Janna was nearly jumping from foot to foot at the thought of it when another voice popped in.

"Mon, you be familiar wit the tail of the girl spillin milk and not gettin a dress." Janna calmed herself down with Ferguson nodding in agreement. Janna then spoke to the skull that was currently hiding in her backpack.

"Sorry Janjak, but this is closest I think anyone on earth has come to genuine magic in years, perhaps decades; and we are the ones about to seize it." Janna looked to Ferguson who had out a sheet of paper with what was close to a shopping list on it.

Janna and Ferguson were not actually going to get very much here, it would make no sense looking for stuff here as this wasn't a store for magical supplies, but all things considered every little bit counted. Ever since they got that chapter of magic from Star's book and aided by Janjak as well the duo had been scouring everywhere for ingredients for magic spells and magical supplements. There were actually a surprising number of items that could be found in stuff you could buy from the super market. Goat's cheese was actually a vital ingredient and was just as good or nearly as good as many other items that were hard to find. Some however were rather unusual, ducks feet, rare, hummingbird saliva, couldn't be found on earth, Hydra poison, or couldn't be found anymore, pure breed American chestnut blossoms. Fortunately Janjak had developed a sense while he was in the museum that could tell when something would work as a spell ingredient even if he couldn't tell how effective it would work until tested. However, it was kind of hard to just drag a witchdoctor skeleton around with you in daylight, especially when he could be wanted for escaping the museum. So to compensate Janna had to take his skull around to help them look for things, speaking of which…

"I sense an alternative to dried bat wings, to the right." Janna and Ferguson turned and went a short distance to find a stand with someone working some type of leather while he explained to some students how it was traditionally done.

Looking at each other the two acknowledged how much like a renaissance fair this event was as Ferguson went to join the crowd ready to distract the man while Janna snuck in around behind the stand. Their method was actually well practiced, Janna would sneak in and gather what was needed and if someone was catching onto her Ferguson would make a distraction. Usually it involved hitting on a girl with his belly and keep on doing so to every girl in the area or making his belly sing a loud and obnoxious song. Janna admitted that while it was effective it did leave Ferguson a might bit humiliated leaving Janna feeling slightly guilty even though he claimed he was fine with it. Wasting no time and hoping to avoid doing that Janna snuck in following a strange beeping noise Janjak made that increased in tempo the closer Janna got to the object. After a minute of searching Janjak stopped his beeping indicating Janna had gotten to the object which seemed to be a few small yellow hides of some sort.

"Let's see… eenie meenie minee…" Janna spoke before just grabbing all of them and throwing them into her backpack with Janjak speaking up his voice muffled by the hides.

"Eh mon, take them all and you might be noticed." Janna smirked coming out from behind the stand to join the crowd while whispering to Janjak.

"Well I don't know when I'm getting mo… what is that?" Janna asked louder pointing to where Floyd was flapping along with a crowd of school girls following closely chanting something along the lines of 'Yaoi! Yaoi! Yaoi!' This caused the whole crowd watching the leather worker to immediately burst into laughter which intensified when they saw Tempest and Oskar on Floyd's back. Ferguson made his way over to Janna holding himself as he couldn't stop his laughter from coming out.

"It seems Tempest and Oskar are a couple now. *Ha ha ha ha* man this is too awesome!" Janna was on one knee as she tried replying through her laughs.

"Man *haha* they are never *haha* going to live *haha* this one down!" As they laughed however Janna bent forward a little too far and the stolen leather fell out in front of everyone. "*hah-* Oh that's not good." The worker immediately yelled out at them.

"Give me back my tanning materials thieves." Janna and Ferguson immediately scooped up the dropped materials and made a break for it with the still laughing crowd acting as a decent screen for them.

They ran through the stalls quickly hoping to get some good distance to put the stuff away and hoped no one would call them out on it at a later date. As they turned their third corner however they ran head first into a very tall entity in a trench coat of sorts head on. The duo dropped their leather and the figure collapsed revealing itself to be three short people stacked on top of each other. The two groups picked themselves up and stared at each other for a minute with Ferguson speaking up.

"Um… who are you and why are you stacked on each other like a movie cliché sneaking into the theater?" One of the trio answered quickly.

"We just wanted to see how many people were fooled by this disguise before we really tried it out." Janna's eyes narrowed as the answer had been 'too' fast for comfort and seemed to remember seeing them from somewhere before.

"Say, you guys look familiar. You wouldn't happen to know Star would you?" The three looked at each other in concern with Ferguson now looking suspicious. "Because I think I saw you at Brittany's birt-"

"I know you're here somewhere." Janna and Ferguson froze up as they recognized the leather worker's voice with Ferguson speaking up.

"We didn't see you if you didn't see us?" The trio nodded. "Ok, let's get going." The two groups passed each other going in their original directions with Janna stuffing the hide into her backpack before they continued to zigzag hoping to avoid capture.

* * *

"…so then Star shot a 'Raspberry panzer blast' and destroyed the tower and the Tremorfidian crystal allowing us to gate out. But not before we witnessed the princesses having a victory party as they were winning." Jackie chuckled at Marco's words while suppressing a sigh and responded.

"It's nice that you have helped Star out so much. You are one of the nicest guys I know to do all this for your best friend." Marco chuckled and rubbed the back of his head before speaking.

"Yeah. I like helping Star out because… she needs me. She's a fantastic person and friend and I want everyone to see her the way I see her. If only they could see her and not the 'Monster' that many project onto her all the time." Jackie took Marco's hand and kissed his cheek making him smile while she repressed another sigh.

Their entire 'wind down date' as Marco put it had been less than satisfactory for Jackie simply because Marco had been talking mostly about Star. He didn't do it intentionally but she could clearly see where his attention was and she was questioning once again if their relationship could work. Don't get her wrong she loved the time she spent with Marco; he was so thoughtful and considerate and went so far for her simply to see her happy. But he spent less time with her then he thought he did and he went 'too' far in trying to make her happy when they were together at times. She would have approached him outright about these issues to resolve them but… she has seen the way Star looks at him at times and even once saw carefully concealed pain in her gaze when she saw Marco and Jackie kissing once. Jackie wanted to be sure it would work with Marco by letting him act naturally before approaching him even though it might only hurt their relationship. 'God why is this so difficult; why didn't I just wait for the next day to make my move?' Jackie thought as Marco looked ahead in confusion and spoke.

"A… Mewman Star?" Jackie looked up where he was looking and saw a stand with merchandise of some sort that looked like Disney princess stuff. "No wait Star has hearts on her cheeks not diamonds." The two walk up to the stand to see some sort of goblin like creature pop up and look at the two before speaking.

"Hello there, here to buy merchandise?" The two look at each other in confusion as the Goblin waits for their response with Marco stuttering one out.

"Um, who are you and who gave you permission to set up this stand?" The goblin chuckled and spoke.

"I am Troblin the Goblin, catchy name isn't it? And Star Butterfly gave me permission in honor of her mother, Moon the Undaunted." The goblin held up one of the action figures on the stand showing a silver haired girl with light pink diamond cheek marks wearing battle armor with a smile on her face.

"Wait, Moon…" Marco looked at the figure for a second as he finally recognized her. "That's Star's mother?"

"Indeed." Marco, Jackie, and Troblin looked over to see Alexis had spoken with Chloe and Alfonzo coming up alongside her. "Queen Moon has gathered a large fanbase after the War of Moonlight Shadow due to her rebellious nature and fair rule. This led to a large stream of merchandise like that you see here now." Marco and Jackie looked at each other in confusion as Troblin stepped in.

"Even now it inspires many a rabble rouser to find a righteous cause and throw their weight behind it to make the world a better place." At this Alfonzo spoke up.

"Wait, Star's mom gets merchandise for fighting a war?" Alexis nodded and spoke again.

"Yeah. How else do you think Moon paid for war reparations after the war was done?" The four kids looked at each other a shrugged at this with Chloe stepping forward to the stand.

"Um, how much do they cost?" Troblin chuckled and spoke up professionally.

"Well about 10 'dollars' as you folks would put it… no wait… 12 'dollars'. Your currency is a bit wonky on exchange rates." Chloe turned and ran speaking up.

"I'll be right back, I left my purse in my locker." Marco went to speak up but Chloe was a lot faster then she looked and was gone before Marco could get a word out.

"Man she's fast, like a professional athlete or something." The group nodded as Marco reached into his hoodie. "I was going to get something for all of us but I can just wait until she gets back." He pulled out a stack of bills from underneath his hoodie catching everyone's attention with Jackie speaking up.

"Um, how much money is that?"

"Six hundred and fifty dollars." Everyone blinked in shock at Marco's words with Alfonzo speaking up first.

"Wow, your babysitting jobs really paid of-" He was cut off however as Janna and Ferguson came rushing around a corner and stopped next to the group panting heavily. "Um… are you guys ok?" Ferguson nodded and spoke through his breaths.

"We just *pant pant* wanted some *pant pant* spell ingredients. *pant pant* Before Marco could speak a similarly out of breath person who looked like the leather worker came around the corner speaking up.

"*pant pant* Finally I *pant pant* found you. *pant pant* Now give *pant pant* up the *pant pant* stolen leather." Marco turned back to Janna and Ferguson his eyes narrowing.

"Janna, what did you take?" Janna composed herself as best as possible and spoke as best she could.

"We found something that could work as a substitute for bat wings, *pant pant* so we just thought a few bits of hide wouldn't' be missed. *pant pant* Right?" Out of everyone it was Alexis who spoke up first with a disappointed tone of voice.

"Don't you know this is how this person makes a living? It's like shoplifting except this guy has no fall back wealth. Either pay him back or give him back his leather." Janna and Ferguson looked at each other in worry before going through their pockets with Ferguson speaking up first.

"I got this partially eaten jaw breaker but I was saving it for later."

"Ew gross." Alfonzo, Jackie, and Marco spoke simultaneously and Janna smiled devilishly.

"Oh Marco, will you pay for the leather? In exchange you'll get your house keys back." Janna dangled a set of keys in front of her making Marco groan in frustration knowing what would be easier in this situation.

"Fine, how much does it cost?" Marco turned to the leather worker who, after a quick deal with Marco, got 50 dollars in compensation as well as agreeing not to tell the principal of what happened. "Next time, don't steal from these people Janna; they're a lot less forgiving then people from earth." Janna shrugged and sat down taking a breather.

"Well I know I should be more careful one way or another." Janna grinned evilly at him making Marco groan.

Jackie chuckled at this and thought to herself, 'You know, even if it doesn't work between us, being just friends with him would be great.'

* * *

Star brushed herself off after stepping out of the bathroom and walked back at a relaxed pace thinking of how well everything had gone so far. Even Lancer and Helsinki had struck up a conversation on crossbows of all things giving her a strange sense of ease. 'For once, everything is going just fine.' Star thought to herself before tapping on some random wood. She heard it was an earth tradition to ward off bad luck when you say something is going really well or think of the only thing that could ruin it. As Star turned a corner she say Chloe Park pull a purse out of a locker and close it rushing away quickly with nervous looks over her shoulder. Star blinked in confusion and brushed it off passing by the locker but stopping three lockers down as she remembered whose locker it might belong to.

"Wait… is that the locker of…" Star thought for a minute before speaking. "No no it can't be… right? She would never give her combo out and even Janna can't get into these lockers easily due to the tough combinations. But then if that was the case…" Star looked back knowing one way to confirm it but not wanting to go there. "I'm not a snoop, I am a princess. I should not go…" Star debated with herself internally before finding herself drawn to the locker to confirm suspicions. "Just a quick peek perhaps." Star pointed her wand at the locker. "Gumdrop Unlock Combo!" A shot of light and the door fell open undamaged allowing Star to confirm whose locker it was… with her mouth open in shock and speaking quietly. "Great Sparks of the Dawi Zharr! It can't be!"


	45. Mewnipendance Day Pt 4

Lancer looked on as Helsinki talked to another group of kids who were hoping to shoot some bolts and felt strangely at ease. Helsinki was far from a stable or even a safe person in his eyes but he knew that she would never let someone get hurt. They had actually talked on and off throughout the whole day learning a bit about each other and actually finding they got along very well. During the process Helsinki learned a bit about earth, being interested in the advances in engineering, and Lancer learned a bit about Mewni, being interested in politics himself. While Helsinki got good news from him he got a mixture of good news and some depressing news, about average for politics.

As it turned out the actual kingdom of Mewni was actually rather small when Moon assumed power; only taking up about 1/10th to 1/15th of the southern 1/3 of the continent. What made the kingdom important was that the various kingdoms and nations throughout the continent viewed Moon as a 'Spiritual High Queen' for all Mewmans and expected other races to follow her example. Of course when Moon took a Monster for her husband and king while destroying the Shadow Clause she sent shockwave effects out through the whole continent. In kingdoms big and small lower class Mewmans and Monsters alike rose up in revolt for various reasons, mostly to over throw lords or to gain equality. The reactions to this from the kingdoms varied widely with some doing everything in their power to destroy the rebels while others embraced the new spirit and world order. In the southern third of the continent this took a strange twist as many groups revolted from previous masters simply to join the kingdom of Mewni; like Texas revolting against Mexico simply to join the USA. This led to the king and queen having to fight multiple wars of consolidation and deal with kingdoms completely surrounded by the Kingdom of Mewni at times. As Lancer went over this in his head a high pitched almost annoying sounding voice sounded off next to him getting his attention.

"Nice to see she isn't accidentally destroying everything in her path for once. Are the principal by any chance?" Lancer blinked and looked around to where the voice was but saw no one. As he scanned the area the voice chirped up again. "Um, down here. Don't worry this happens a lot." Lancer looked down to the ground and blinked in shock when he saw a green bird man wearing some sort of chip bag standing about one foot tall or so. "Yes I am in fact an adult and no need for short people jokes they bore me at this point." Lancer shook his head clearing it as best he could and spoke calmly.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to seeing nonhumans this much again." Ludo raised his eyebrow in question as Lancer continued. "Long story. Anyways, I am Mr. Lancer the Principal of this school to answer your question. And who might you be and what do you need?" The bird man smiled and replied evenly.

"I am Ludo Avarius of the House Avarius and one of the five speakers of the Mewman Senate; or at least would be if Moon actually wasn't a hypocrite." Lancer blinked in confusion at this as Ludo continued. "I came to you to see if you had seen or heard of my niece Alexis Avarius, you wouldn't have happened to see her have you. She's about 17 years old, 5 ½ foot high, yellow eyes, green feathers for hair, pale skin, arms that double as wings with green feathers?" Lancer shock his head no with Ludo sighing in annoyance. "Well we lost each other and now I need to find her or her father with be annoyed at me again." Lancer spoke up at this.

"Well there is going to be a ceremonial duel followed by dinner at the end of the day; I'm certain we could find her easily then. Also, you are the first person I have met that has had anything negative to say about this Queen Moon yet, care to elaborate." Ludo's relived smile at hoping to find Alexis disappeared with an annoyed exasperated look as he replied.

"Just because she is a good person doesn't mean she doesn't have flaws. She set up a senate of democratically elected officials claiming that the queen held too much power and thus a bad queen could too easily exploit the nation or she could be exploited too easily by her advisers. That would have been just fine in my eyes, in fact she would have been the perfect queen, but now she is keeping the senate from making any decisions with her just ruling the kingdom like the senate doesn't even exist."

"There is a reason for that." The two looked up to see Helsinki approaching them with an annoyed look in her eyes as she focused down on Ludo. "Mind telling im about the various provinces that were 'democratically' voting for Monsters to be second class citizens or outlawing interracial marriage. Ow about that one province that almost succeeded in deeming half-children abominations of nature to be killed on sight? You think the queen would allow an area where er own daughter would be killed without sufficient protection because the law stated that?" Lancer blinked in shock not because of how unusual it was, the American south had the Jim Crow laws once after all, but because of how it did not cross his mind with the Monsters vs Mewmans thing that had occurred before Moon ascended.

"I get her reasons Helsinki, what I don't get is why after FIVE YEARS she hasn't come up with an answer to the problem yet." Ludo was trying to sound reasonable but his passion was heating up his words with fiery purpose. "This should be top priority for her all things considered even with the various groups joining us and rebelling against us. In fact the restoration of the senate would tone down the rebellions and make transition for many places easier." Helsinki was about to yell at Ludo when Lancer stepped in between them smacking them both on the head with his Principal instincts kicking in.

"Alright enough you two, this is getting you nowhere." The two looked at Lancer annoyed rubbing their heads but begrudgingly acknowledging he did have a point. "It's clear neither of you have any idea on how to resolve this by making both sides satisfied so what you need is an outside third party; one who wishes to see both sides benefit from the compromise. Someone who actually knows how to make democracy work like our nation made it work in the past." Helsinki rubbed her head for a minute before she spoke sarcastically.

"Well if we need one why don't you step forward?" The minute she said that all three of them stopped what they were doing and realized that the idea might actually work strangely enough.

"Could you help us out with this?" Ludo asked Lancer as he rubbed his chin in thought for a second and snapped his fingers speaking in triumph.

"Actually, of course I could. Our nation actually resolved an issue similar to yours more than 200 years ago even though it took nearly that long to fully implement it. I can run you down on how we did it and you can help me figure out how to change it for your nation." Ludo and Helsinki looked at each other and nodded slowly in consent with Helsinki speaking up.

"I'll let you an Ludo do that as I ave to insure this group doesn't kill themselves." She departed with a quick nod and Lancer began speaking to Ludo.

"Before we get started, I know it's none of my business but why are you wearing a chip bag?" Ludo looked down at his cloths and smiled.

"I wear what the poorest wear as the leaders of a nation should be first ones to suffer, not the people." Lancer nodded to Ludo in respect before speaking again.

"If only our politicians were like that. Now there is this article in our nation called the 'Bill of Rights' whose first Amendment states that all shall be treated equally under the law…" Ludo listened intently as Lancer taught him the purpose of a Constitution and how Amendments to it can help promote stability and flexibility.

* * *

Dumnorix watched as Selene walked through the event with it being obvious she was holding back anger and disgust at the events being celebrated. He understood her sentiments and was impressed that she was keeping such a tight hold on her emotions given what happened to her family. He looked around at his comrades watching the event through their lizard spy eyes and saw everyone was acting normal except for Mavis who seemed to be even more twitchy then she was this morning, let alone three days ago. He again felt worried for her and remembered how he saw Mildrew put some white powder in her tea once but never did it afterword. He looked at Mildrew with concern in his eyes as Mildrew watched the screen with calm interest showing he was clearly waiting for Selene to make her move. Dumnorix shook off the thoughts and turned back to the screen watching with slight interest as Selene began following a crowd of people streaming towards a major event. At this Mavis spoke up in a jittery fashion almost like how he envisioned a rat talking.

"I know this; this is the ceremonial recreation of the duel between Moon and Willow though it actually happened between Moon and Etheria. A perfect opportunity to get the wand is right after the duel yes." The warriors glanced at her oddly as Mildrew talked with some concern in his voice.

"Yes it is. I know this is a big deal but you seem particularly on edge today even with all that is happening. Are you alright milady?" Dumnorix, despite his appearance, was actually quite intelligent and good at reading people and he could tell Mildrew was genuinely concerned for her. 'Odd as he could have been the one who 'put' her on edge.' Dumnorix thought as Mavis responded to Mildrew.

"Yes I am fine, just need to see this to the end like all of you. This plan should work because it involves us not fighting her which the part where we usually fail." Everyone looked at each other uncomfortably as Mavis continued. "Oh come on its not like we are inadequate, just that they are better than our average." She turned back to the screen having made everyone uncomfortable as Selene was now watching some sort of introduction.

Dumnorix could identify the princess Star who was wearing some sort of armor he recognized from a description as the type Moon wore during battle. He chuckled at how it only seemed to accentuate that Star was a Monster in a manner similar to the phrase 'A goats a goat even in a silk coat.' She was obviously going to take part in the duel as the representative for Moon and her opponent…

"What the bloody hell is that display?" Dumnorix found himself shouting in disbelief as he saw Marco in a dress.

It wasn't even a dress that one could fight in normally, it was a big poufy pink one that looked to be used only during a formal ball. He even had a long ponytail to accompany it making Marco look like a genuine female princess. Oddly enough though the boy showed no shame or embarrassment as he squared off with Star while Dumnorix was not able to tear his eyes away for some reason. 'Well Etheria did wear a dress during her final fight with Moon so I guess it counts. Although he looks a bit TOO much like a woman…' At that he shook his head as the idea of a man actually being remotely attractive to him tried to work its way in. He bedded women not men, and definitely not an enemy of his. Shaking off the thoughts he saw Selene was at the edge of the crowd looking on with slight interest as she looked over the stalls at the edge of the clearing that was set up for the duel.

"What is she doing?" Mavis asked looking really annoyed for some reason with Mildrew calming her down.

"She is looking for something to test the mace on just to double check that it is working. No chances can be taken here milady." Dumnorix nodded at that with everyone grunting their consent.

Mavis seemed unswayed as Selene came across a stand that seemed to be showcase for one of the royal houses in particular the house of Dragon. Dumnorix knew that he alone could see the look of pain cross Selene's face as she glanced over the stand and then paused looking back at it. Moving in closer the lizard focused on what she was looking at revealing it to be some sort of curved sword with long and winding draconic iconography over the scabbard and hilt. Selene's face had this look of someone finding something precious she had lost a long time ago and had given up hope of finding it ever. She immediately raised up the mace and clicked the button… only for nothing to happen. She looked at it in confusion and flicked the button several more times with the audience growing concerned. Mavis outright stood up and spoke in a panicked voice.

"What is she doing. Why isn't the mace activating?" Everyone turned to lord Mildrew who had a panicked look on his face as he spoke.

"I... have no idea." Everyone talked amongst themselves a bit worried as Dumnorix saw the look on Selene's face and panicked himself.

"NO, DON'T DO IT SELENE!" He knew she couldn't hear him but he tried nonetheless to get some sense in her as she grabbed the blade and turned to the ongoing duel. "MILDREW, GET THEM OUT OF THERE!"

* * *

The crowd began applauding as Marco kneeled down holding his weapon, a staff because that was the weapon he could use best, out for Star to take. Star smiled at just how well everything had gone so far with the duel wrapping up perfectly. She nodded as Marco began saying the final words Willow had actually said to her mother.

"I surrender to thee Moon. The queen has fallen, long live the…"

"STAR LOOK OUT!" Star turned at Jackie's call of warning to see what was going on only to be greeted by a swinging blade.

Star tried ducking out of the way but she was caught off guard so she only managed to bend just enough so that the blade didn't strike her head. It did however strike her arm at the shoulder cleaving right through the fake armor and joint as if it was nothing. A gasp of shock ran through the crowd as Star attempted to do a backflip but only managed to tumble just out of the way of two more swings in quick succession. Pain lanced up through her arm as Star realized the arm that had been severed was the one holding her wand which was being picked up by a girl she had trouble identifying at first. But as Marco stood up and struck at her with his staff she recognized Selene who now wielded a sword she recognized as an artifact of the House Dragon. Marco stood between Selene and Star red-faced with fury emanating from his eyes as he struck at her.

"YOU. DO. NOT. HURT. STAR." Marco was so caught up in his fury that Selene cut his staff in half with her sword and kicked him back and moved for the wand.

"Well I just did you pathetic princess pet." She reached down for the wand but had to jump back as she was nearly shot with a crossbow bolt.

She turned to see Helsinki had gotten out her torchbow and was firing at Selene making the surrounding crowd duck for cover at the flying bolts. Selene growled a challenge and used her sword to actually deflect one of the bolts making Helsinki outright stop to just admire the girl's training to accomplish something like that. During this Marco got back up and leapt at Selene trying to fight hand to hand but the dress slowed him down enough to give Selene an edge. During this Star was trying to crawl for her wand not bothering to focus energy to regrow her arm as Jackie approached her. Before Jackie could speak Star faced her with yellow cat-pupil eyes and growled at her.

"I'm fine, help me get my wand." Jackie nodded and helped Star up to get it.

As this happened Selene tried turning her attention to stop Star but Marco was not letting her have any ground whatsoever. And to top this off Floyd tried getting involved in the fight by trying to peck at her forcing her to go on the defensive. As the crowd got its senses back Alexis and Tempest were the next ones to step in only to be blocked by the Danter triplets stacked on top of each other. Hesitating proved to be a bad idea as they leapt onto Tempest dragging him down into a pile of bodies. Alexis leapt into the pile trying to pull them off but wound up in a wrestling match with one and was impressed at how strong the little guys were. Helsinki, seeing how ranged weapons were useless tried moving forward but was stopped by a barbarian with the very long beard who smiled as he cracked his knuckles ready for a fight. Helsinki went into a fighting stance until she looked over his shoulder and yelled.

"Gah! Reinforcements?" He looked over his shoulder to be greeted with nothing and thought 'It was at this moment Michael knew, he fucked up.' Helsinki kicked him in the groin making him collapse in pain holding himself as she spoke down to him. "I can't believe you fell for that." At that however a portal was actually opened by some sort of blade with a handsome looking figure stepping through that sent chills down her spine.

"We need to leave now before they get reinforcements!" Mildrew yelled and focused his blade shooting a black whip of sorts that entangled Floyd making him fall to the ground.

"No! We are so close!" Selene yelled at him only to see Michael limp away and the Danter triplets break for the portal. "*GRRRRR* Fine you COWARDS!" Selene made a break for the portal just as Star got her wand and shot a spell at them.

"Black Raspberry Dragon Crush!" Star shot a winding dragon that appeared to be made out of purple soda at the group with it closing in fast. Selene however didn't dive for the portal or doge out of the way but instead faced it head on gripping her sword with both hands. The sword began to glow a strange golden color with Selene's eyes and an area around her left shoulder, muted by clothing, glowing gold as well. Waving the sword in a figure eight she gave out a shout. "Ryūjin no ken wo kūrae!" A Golden dragon that looked Chinese in origin shot out from the blade and grabbed onto the dragon from Star's wand. Everyone stood in absolute shock as the gold dragon pulled the purple dragon around Selene and sent it flying back at Star with Marco finally being spurned into action.

"Get Down!" Marco yelled and leapt tackling both Star and Jackie to the ground covering up Star as the dragon made impact with them.

The group was forced back making them tumble across the ground for a distance before coming to a stop. As the crowd stood in shock the dragon went back into the sword with the golden glow disappearing with Selene backing towards the portal. As she did so announced herself aloud to everyone.

"I am Selene Dragon of the house Dragon, and I will see the Butterfly's and Monsters punished for what happened to my family!" With that she turned and leapt back into the portal with it closing behind her.

Everyone stared at where the portal had been in shock before turning back to see Marco, Star, and Jackie were unharmed by the blast and were getting back up. As they did so Star regrew her arm with a strained face as she looked at the crowd that was now staring at her in confusion. She looked at Marco and Jackie who were also looking at her in concern and confusion with Star sighing and speaking.

"And everything was going so well today."

* * *

Jackie looked over where everyone was now eating the feast of corn provided by Star free of charge and felt unease. Not just at what had happened earlier but at what had happened during the fight when Marco had leapt at them to knock them to the ground and out of the worst of the blast. He knew Star could recover from gruesome wounds yet he had leapt on her to shield her for some reason. Jackie knew that he did it subconsciously but that only made her more convinced of her idea that it wasn't going to work now. She sighed knowing what she had to do and stood up only to be grabbed on by Janna who spoke.

"Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?" Jackie looked at her in confusion until she gestured at Marco to which Jackie nodded. "His heart is going to be broken no matter how you do it as he has been after you for most of his life, you know that right?" Jackie nodded as Janna continued. "I know this may sound strange but don't mention Star potentially being interested if at all possible, he needs to get over you first." Jackie nodded somberly as Janna let go and she walked off a little ways texting Marco to get him to come over so she could do it quietly. She stood out of sight of the feast as Marco made his way over and spoke.

"Hey Jackie what's up? I know it must be serious if you are calling me over here." Jackie sighed and nodded grabbing onto his hands. But before she could speak he began speaking. "I know today has been bad and you have had a lot to deal with, but thank you for helping Star. If there is anything on your mind please tell me so I can help you…"

"I'm breaking up with you Marco." Marco froze in shock as Jackie continued to speak. "Things have been going… not so well in case if you didn't notice. At times you seem to completely ignore me and at others you seem to suffocate me and I know you are a great guy Marco any girl would be glad to be with you; I just don't think a relationship between us would work now that I've gotten in close to you. It seems like you're more in love with the idea of being in love with me then actually being with me; putting me on some sort of pedestal." Marco blinked in shock as if trying to comprehend what just happened as Jackie looked down as if ashamed of what she was saying. "I understand if you don't want to be friends now but I still want to be friends with you man, I like you just not in that way." Marco blinked clearing his head before speaking.

"Jackie… I get it. I felt the degradation of our relationship for a while now and I think I handled it pretty poorly looking back on it. But we can work through this right? Relationships require the couple to voice their issues and work them over; I was just waiting for you to voice them as I didn't want to presume too much. I want to continue to learn more about you as a person and be a couple, I love you more than anyone else here." At that line Jackie chuckled bitterly and faced Marco with tears in her eyes.

"We both know that's not true Marco." Marco blinked in confusion as Jackie continued. "You may only recognize it subconsciously but you do care more about someone else then me." Marco blinked in confusion for a moment as the gears began turning in his head until he realized what Jackie most likely meant even through the haze of panic in his mind.

"Wait… Star? But she's just my friend and a bit like a sister, I don't see her that way. And honestly I can tell she doesn't see me that way as well." Jackie chuckled sounding tired as she let go of his hands speaking sadly.

"Take this as a chance to figure things out man and a lesson on how to treat your partner. Not every relationship works out happily ever after you know." She walked away with Marco holding out his hands trying to reach for her with a look of sad despair coming across it as Jackie walks away with silent tears.

"Wait?" Marco whispered as Jackie moved out of sight. "Don't go?"

* * *

Star saw Chloe walking away from Alfonzo and sat down a slight distance away and stared drawing the group that was eating eagerly. 'Well I wonder what she's going to make it look like.' Star thought to herself going over and sitting next to her startling Chloe.

"Oh, I didn't see you there. Hello Star." Chloe appeared nervous for reasons Star knew now why and spoke reassuringly.

"I have a light foot, necessary for sneaking up on prey and enemies but can hinder you in a crowd." The two chuckled with Star leaning in close to observe the drawing. "You're very talented at what you do Chloe." Chloe nodded and smiled continuing her work speaking to Star.

"Well I find it a good way to pour my efforts as it helps me not focus on the bad aspects of my life." Star nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, I read and play computer games as well as beat up baddies and run through the woods hunting at times. Everyone has their own thing, but I never expected you to be interested in drawing… Brittany Wong." Chole froze up at that outright dropping her pencil as Star continued with a snark grin on her face. "You know you really shouldn't leave some much stuff to take you down memory lane in your locker; especially the types of memories I have of you." Chloe began shaking uncontrollably turning to Star with absolute terror in her eyes as she stuttered.

"W-w-w-what d-do y-y-you want?" Star was about to tease her until she saw the fear in her eyes that she recognized from having experienced it herself. Star just sat there for a minute as Chloe was at near fainting point from terror when Star finally spoke with a softer look on her face.

"Why did you do what you did to me?" Chloe tried speaking and failed due to stuttering until Star cast "Hypnotic Kitten Comforter" on Chloe calming her down enough to start talking.

"I… was afraid of you. I know what it's like being on the bottom of the school hierarchy and you were rapidly ascending to take my position. I know I was hated by many even before that night and I couldn't let the respect and awe disappear or I would be torn apart. And also…" She held the purple kitten with swirly eyes close to her like a teddy bear. "…because you remind me so much like myself once. I just wanted people to leave me alone so I climbed the ladder to make it so, and I began focusing on the climb more than my goal. I felt shame for myself every time I looked at you and jealousy that everyone treated you so nicely when they only tormented me." Star blinked in confusion and pity tenderly reaching out to provide support but Chloe pulled away in fear making Star speak.

"Why did you do this, turning into someone else? Couldn't you have just gone to a different school?" Chloe shook her head hiding her face.

"Mommy died a long time ago and I don't attract daddy's attention if I know what's good for me. As for my transformation… I'm a coward. I should be standing out there taking the abuse from everyone but I can't… I just can't." Chloe began sobbing. "I've done terrible things, far worse then what I did to you honestly and I just can't face them. I let my best friend die when climbing the ladder and only the night of you speaking up finally felt guilt for it. I wish I was brave enough to either take the punishment or kill myself, the world would be better off without…" Chloe stopped however when Star pulled her in close for a hug speaking in a commanding voice.

"No, do not think that way! I know what it's like to go down that path you're thinking of and no one deserves that, not even you!" They stayed in that position for what felt like an eternity before Star pulled back looking at her reassuringly. "I know now there's at least a glimmer of hope inside of you… but I can't forgive you yet." Chloe blinked in confusion as Star continued. "I won't tell anyone but if you want me to forgive you do more than just hide and feel sorry for yourself, got it?" Chloe nodded and blew her nose on her sleeve before speaking up.

"C-can I go home now?" Star nodded and clasped her in for a hug whispering in her ear.

"And if you are ever feeling down and consider going down 'that road' just talk to me. I can help." Chloe nodded as they pulled away with Chloe walking away in a hurried manner to most likely say goodbye to Alfonzo before leaving. 'I hope she can be redeemed, because the alternative is just too horrible to imagine.' Star thought to herself as Jackie approached her suddenly. "Oh hey Jackie, what's up?" Jackie stared at Star in concern for a minute before speaking.

"I just broke up with Marco and I need you to comfort him." The bomb being dropped like that took Star completely off guard leaving a mixture of strange feelings in her.

She felt mad at Jackie for seemingly leading Marco on by accepting him only to dump him, understanding knowing that their relationship was going downhill for a while, sadness that Marco had lost his crush of literately 8 years out of his 14 year life, resolve to go and help Marco, and, much to her shame, joy that she might have a chance with Marco no that he was single. The feelings flickered across her face for a minute with Jackie watching and waiting for a reaction until Star finally spoke up.

"Why? You confessed to him even though he has been after you a long time." Jackie hung her head and chuckled bitterly.

"It just wasn't working for so many reasons, and I wanted to give you a chance to go for him." Star blinked in shock that Jackie might have been able to read her so easily and spoke up in a nonchalant manner.

"Pffff, naw no way. He is my guide and guardian but I don't' view him that way, he's kind of like a brother in certain ways." Star lied through her teeth and smiled broadly as Jackie chuckled and continued.

"Well, don't make your move just yet as he needs time to recover. Now go to him, your 'brother' needs you." Jackie patted Star's shoulder moving along with Star waiting a minute before running home full speed.

She knew Marco would have gone home immediately after something like that and didn't stop until she reached the front door to find it unlocked. Stepping inside she went up to his room opening the door slowly and stepped inside to see Marco was hiding inside of his hoodie with a blank stare on his face as he looked at the wall. All of her confused emotions were suddenly thrown out the door and replaced with a desire to comfort Marco. He didn't even acknowledge Star as she crawled up and curled next to him speaking softly.

"Marco, are you ok?"

"I'm fine Star, no need to worry about me."

"Marco…"

"I'm fine Star."

"Marco…"

"I'm fine Star!" Star grabbed his face and made him look at her.

"Marco!" Tears began coming down his face as he grabbed onto her like a desperate child.

"I'm… not fine." He began crying uncontrollably hanging onto Star desperately as she held onto him letting him cry everything out. "We could have worked it out so EASILY *sob* but she chose to just give it up. *sob* She came to me Star *sob* when I was trying to get to her most of my life *sob* and let me in only to throw me away. *sob* Why Star, WHHHHHY?" Marco continued to sob as Star pulled him onto her lap just desiring to comfort Marco.

"Don't worry Marco, just let out all of your sadness." She cradled him like a baby and pushed his head to her breasts. "You can let yourself fall apart, I'll help put you back together tomorrow." She held him close kissing his forehead and inhaled his scent from his fluffy black hair. ***throb throb*** **watch?v=19bBGxf5k6kStar** **Pan's Labyrinth Lullaby** She then hummed a lullaby to him that her mom had done so for her when she was little. **(Play for as long as you see fit for Star comforting Marco before ending the music)**

* * *

"YOU ARE USELESS!" Mavis was yelling at Selene in an enraged manner with Selene's head bowed in shame and repressed anger. "It was so simple that an idiot could have done it. Open the mace and shove the wand in. But noooooo you had to do it the old fashioned way. Also why didn't you use that all powerful attack at the start of the conflict, you could have won so much more easily!?" Everyone was looking at each other in fear as Mavis ranted since she never was like this to the warriors that failed. "What have you to say for yourself?!" Selene looked up at the red-rimmed wild eyes Mavis had and spoke curtly.

"The mace was not working, I tested it out on the sword but it would not open. And the power of that sword can only be used to redirect attacks, not cause them." Mavis growled at Selene's response as Lord Mildrew stepped forward holding up the mace.

"You claim this did not work?" Selene nodded as Mildrew pressed the button… only for nothing to happen. "That's odd, it should be opening." Everyone looked back and forth as Mavis screamed again at Selene.

"You, you broke it didn't you?! I thought you were the most coordinated one but no you're just a clumsy oaf ruled by her family issues aren't you?!" At this Selene's demeanor finally broke and she leapt at Mavis attacking her with fists. Everyone immediately jumped in to separate the two with Lord Mildrew yelling out to everyone.

"Enough of this, none of this is helping." Selene calmed down relatively quick with Dumnorix not letting her go just yet but Mavis began clawing and hitting the warriors keeping her back as she yelled at Mildrew.

"You would let her go after such a failure wouldn't you? Am I too old so you're going for someone a bit younger to suit your tastes?" The whole crowd gasped at this with Mildrew turning to Mavis and speaking with a cold voice.

"Your composure seems to have worn thin; I suggest you go rest until you have properly composed yourself milady." He gave the last word out akin to spitting poison as the warriors dragged her away to her room. "I do wish to make clear I wish to see Mavis on the throne and justice enacted upon all wrongs; my only personal vendetta is against the lizard who took my eye." Mildrew rubbed his eye patch a little before turning back to Selene and bowing to her on one-knee. "I fear this may have been my fault. I checked to make sure just before the mission that this device would work and may have damaged it through excessive worry. Please forgive me for this embarrassment Selene, the fault is mine this day." Everyone looked at Selene who was set down gingerly by Dumnorix who stared at Mildrew for a second before nodding.

"Mistakes… can be made." She spoke in tight clipped voice as if she was upset that she had to say the words. "I forgive you." She then turned and walked away with everyone beginning to disperse for the night. Mildrew stood up looking at Dumnorix in worry and speaking softly.

"Keep an eye on Selene, she seems to have a lot to get through. And don't worry about Mavis, I will let her out once she calms down enough to apologize to Selene for her childish outbursts." As Mildrew walked away Dumnorix watched him go off and turned going for Selene. He found her exactly where he knew she would be this time holding the sword she had gotten today next to her like a stuffed animal and crying silently. Without a word he picked her up and held her in a hug despite a muffled protest and began speaking softly.

"You don't need to beat yourself up for this, no one was truly at fault today." Selene sniffed slightly and hugged him speaking in a desperate tone.

"I just want justice for my family and to find my mother so we can be a family again. Is that really too much to ask for?" Dumnorix held her close providing comfort as thoughts blew around in his head about what was going to happen next.

 **Well... that was a lot to unload. Take your time processing all of this people because coming up next it's time to "Storm The Castle".**

 **And for those of you who are going to ask why does Marco not see Star is interested in him or he is in her listen to these points. 1. He has been after Jackie for most of his life and probably has tunnel vision when it comes to love. 2. He could legitimatly think of his feelings towards Star are like those of a really close friend or a sister. 3. Star has been hiding her feelings from him to help his relationship with Jackie. 4. He is 14 years old people, he's bound to be a little selfish and immature with his emotions.**

 **Now then, onwards and upwards to the season one finale!**


	46. Storm The Castle Pt 1

**WH: Alright, so we start a bombardment on the eastern walls right after drawing as many soldiers there as possible and then we scale the western wall with ladders full force. While we are doing that the group at the gates will cut loose the ropes and chains allowing the portcullis and drawbridge to fall before opening the gates. Our elite forces will rush in there while their main force is too busy defending...**

 **Omnitraxus Prime: Um, Hippie. One of our strong independent magical girls that need no man just completely destroyed the gatehouse and is taking on the whole army single handed.**

 **WH: ... well then start the attack, she's gonna need support right. *officers all nod and rush out to support the wonder of a woman winning the day* Well that simplifies storming the castle. Enjoy the episode folks. *winks at audience before donning a helmet and rushing off to lead the soldiers.**

Star sighed as she closed her locker door and made ready to head home after another depressing day. Her classes were going just fine, getting A's all around, and everyone was abuzz with excitement still from the historical event that had happened four days ago. The problem was with Marco and how he was taking the breakup from Jackie which made Star more nervous by the day. Her thoughts were interrupted by Janna speaking to her.

"Hey Star, you look beat." Star sighed and turned to Janna who had Ferguson with her speaking back.

"Yeah. I'm sure it's no secret the Marco took Jackie's breakup hard right?" The two nodded as they were aware of how badly Marco loved Jackie with Ferguson responding.

"I can hear the strain in his voice when he talks to us, and I'm not good with reading emotions." Star sighed again leaning against the locker and spoke softly rubbing on her tail nervously.

"He does act alright but he just goes through the motions of things with no real purpose behind them. Just yesterday he skipped practicing his board breaking for karate to dance ballet to sad depressing music." This made the two glance at each other uncomfortably as they knew Marco still practiced ballet but he also prioritized getting his black belt first. "I just want to help him but I can't think of anything." The two rubbed their chins in thought before Ferguson spoke up.

"Say, you guys do a lot of adventure stuff in other dimensions right?" Star nodded with slight confusion. "Well why not take him on one to try and get his blood moving again so he can see things more clearly?" Star got an interested look and then smiled broadly leaning in to hug Ferguson speaking fast.

"That's an excellent idea Ferguson. Thank you." Star kissed him on the cheek and ran off with Ferguson staring out after Star blankly as Janna spoke up.

"That was actually a good idea, how'd you get that crack of intelligence?" She noticed Ferguson get this goofy smile on his face making Janna wave her hand in front of him in concern. "Man, did you project your astral form without me?" Ferguson giggled before speaking.

"A girl just kissed me. I'm never washing this cheek again." Janna blinked in shock before laughing at him and responding.

"Well what do you know; even a stopped clock is right twice a day." Ferguson shot her an annoyed look before walking home with Janna following him.

* * *

Mavis tried waking up from a painfully deep sleep as words were being said over her in some strange language of sorts. She tried moving something but she could barely even feel anything other than a hard banging in her head like something was trying to get out in desperation. She decided to try a calming technique and tried breathing in and out slowly to get herself awake to be rewarded with a stuffy nose and a dry scratchy throat that made it difficult. Ignoring these as best she could, she had gone through worse, she breathed in and out slowly and deeply as she felt feeling return to her body via pins and needles. The voice had not ceased yet and it seemed to actually be speaking some unknown language with her mind not playing tricks on her in her confused state. Suspicion kicking in she let her body come to normally while only cracking her eye open ever so slightly to see what was going on. Ignoring the gunk that had collected there she saw what appeared to be Lord Mildrew holding his sword over her with it glowing red… as was his eye. She decided to not wait and find out what was going on and shot up as best she could hitting Mildrew's wrist sending his blade flying across the room. She rolled to the other side of the cot in her private quarters and rubbed the gunk out of her eyes before staring down 'Mildrew' who looked genuinely caught off guard and spoke in a broken voice.

"Who are you, and don't try the 'I'm Lord Mildrew' thing I see your red eye." The thing looked at her before the red glow disappeared leaving Mildrew looking around in confusion until he spotted Mavis.

"Oh… there you are. You were asleep only a second ago. Have you calmed down from your outburst last night?" He reached out to her with Mavis shrinking away and growling at him speaking in a guarded manner.

"Don't play games with me, what have you done to Mildrew?!" Mildrew blinked in confusion before sighing and going to pick up his sword walking to the door.

"It seems you have not calmed down yet. Perhaps a few more hours will do you good as well as some food and drink." He gestured to the side table where the items were located and walked out barring the door behind him before walking away.

"You can't fool me, I know you're not Mildrew!" Mavis shouted after him before turning towards the food and drink. "Perhaps I should… no it might be drugged." At that moment she realized what she experienced when waking up, symptoms of drug withdrawal. "That slimly thing that has control of Lord Mildrew is toying with me. But why?" For second a thought crossed her mind that perhaps it was all in her head and she shook it off. "No… I know what I saw. And I am pretty sure no one will believe me if I say anything after what had happened." She remembered last night somewhat feeling shivers of guilt at the accusations she had flung around so blatantly. "Well I can't stay here; next time I fall asleep he might try whatever it was he was trying to do to me again." Fortunately she had a backup plan.

Her hideout's construction was actually kind of clever as she had included a few escape holes that only she and Dumnorix knew the location of for security reasons. She went over to a corner and searched along a wall until she found a hidden seam and pushed on it forcing a panel open hoping that Dumnorix had not barred this escape route. 'Don't worry, I'll be back once I have regained my strength.' Mavis thought to herself as she began crawling wishing she could stop by her room to grab her armor and sword to deal with the things in the Forest of Certain Death.

* * *

Marco danced in a smooth sad motion feeling a calm weightlessness as he let all his emotions flow out through the dance. He found when he was in a particularly sad place that doing ballet helped out a great deal in just letting things flow. The problem for this situation was when he was not dancing the crushing yet hollow feeling of what had happened always returned. He tried pushing it aside but all it led to was the weight becoming more depressingly real to him. He sighed as he moved like water around in twirl not noticing his door had been opened until someone spoke up.

"Marco." Marco stopped in mid twirl and just barely caught himself before he fell over. "Hey Marco how's it going?" Marco looked up at Star who was giving him a really big smile. "Say, I wanted to show you a snack that many people would risk life and limb for. So good… they even top your nachos." Marco blinked in shock at that as Star continued. "So, mind if you joined me to grab some real quick?" She smiled at him making Marco groan internally at the fact he was going to be pulled away from his dancing but put on a brave face and smiled before answering.

"Of course, let me just change out of these ballet shoes first." Marco changed shoes and followed Star through a portal she cut as a concerning thought crossed his mind. 'Wait… risk life and limb for this snack.'

 **SN: One tense and worrying travel later.**

Star smiled reassuringly at Macro as he looked up at the cave entrance on the 100 foot cliff deep in the jungles within the lands of Septarsis, otherwise known as Ticalla Jungle. Star breathed in and out getting feeling of reassurance from the muggy warm air; this was where her father's people originally established themselves after all. She grabbed Marco's hand and began pulling him into the dark cave smiling and spoke up.

"Don't worry, wild animals keep a wide berth from these areas so nothing to fear from them." Marco looked at her in even more concern and spoke up.

"It's not them, it's the lack of them I'm concerned at. What's keeping them away?" Marco's voice was going up so Star put a finger to his lips and shushed him.

"You need to be quite, the thing that guards these Sandviches won't like it when I take one of them." She led Marco into a small cavern with a small mound at the center with Marco looking at her in concern.

"Wait, we're coming here and risking life and limb for a sandwich." Star chuckled and moved quietly up to the mound showing Marco little sucker like holes all over it before speaking.

"Not sandwich, Sandvich. These things are not only tasty, healthy, and can magically heal you, but also can fill you for up to three days if you eat the whole thing. Was one of the most satisfying meals I have ever had." Star smiled at him again and looked into the various sucker holes over the mound until she found one with a Sandvich in it. "Keep an eye on this mound while I get the Sandvich." Star leaned into the hole with Marco speaking in a whisper.

"Star, this is not a good idea. Let's get back now." Star ignored him as she reached further in and felt her hand wrap around it.

"Got it." Star withdrew holding up the Sandvich witch basically looked like the greatest sandwich ever made with a golden halo around it to complete it. "I wish I remembered that levitation spell Glossarick taught me, I can never tell if it's levitato or levitato." Star offered the Sandvich to Marco who took a bite from it savoring the flavor for a second before he spoke.

"Oh Mama is that Go- I just yelled that didn't I?" Star nodded nervously rubbing her tail for a second as steam began coming out of the sucker holes in the mound which began to rise up. "Can we go now?"

"Most definitely." Star spoke grabbing Marco's hand and dragging him out of the cave with an annoyed grumbling coming from within. "Come on, let's get outside and cut a way home-" Marco stumbled over something knocking into Star who dropped the dimensional scissors she was taking out. "Oh shit!" The scissors bounced along the rocky out cropping and fell over the side of a cliff with Marco speaking up.

"Star let's get going. Wait did you drop the scissors?" Star turned to him with annoyed expressions mirroring each other.

"Well what did you stumble o-" A roar from within the cave cut Star off as she got up dragging Marco again. "Come on we need to get the scissors." Without hesitation Star leapt off the cliff with Marco screaming like a pansy when he realized this.

"AHHHHHHHH! Star, I don't have your healing capabilities!" Star pointed her wand towards the ground and shouted 'Strawberry Shortcake Trampoline!' creating a gigantic cake like thing they bounced the 100 foot drop off of them harmlessly.

"Don't worry Marco, I got yo-" The bounce had sent them tumbling into a tree where they hung 20 feet of the ground. "Don't worry, we just need the scissors now and we can-"

"Got them!" Marco cut Star off opening the portal as an angry roar came from the cliff above as something that looked like a toad that was covered in suckers instead of warts jumped off the edge. "Ok we need to… Star don't go for it!" Star had leapt down onto the ground below and had scooped up the Sandvich and got to climbing the tree back up to him.

"I am not wasting this good Sandvich Marco, now get through the portal!" Marco hesitated a second making sure Star was alright which delayed him long enough for Star to leap before he had gotten through. As they tumbled into Marco's bedroom a bellowing came from the otherside of the portal. "Gahh, where's that scissor!" Marco shoved Star off of him going for the portal and closing it just as the bellowing sounded like it was going to come through. "Oh nice save their Marco, for a second there I thought we were…"

"NO!" Star stopped at Marco's outburst as he turned with an angry look on his face. "We almost got eaten by a frog monster for a sandwich." Star got annoyed by this and retorted.

"Well you thought the Sandvich was so amazing that you gave us away to it in the first place though I clearly warned you about it!"

"Well we could have gotten away more smoothly if you hadn't dropped the scissors!"

"Well I wouldn't have dropped them if you hadn't stumbled back there!"

"Well I wouldn't have stumbled if you hadn't dragged me along on this both figuratively and literally!"

"Well you could have agreed to not go with me!"

"I wanted to not go but you looked so eager I had to go along to keep you from feeling bad!"

"Well I was doing it to cheer you up from your breakup with Jackie after being in this depressed trance for four days!"

"Well could you just leave me alone as I don't need someone fussing over me like you constantly d-" **Omnitraxus Prime: It was at this moment Marco knew, he fucked up.** Marco felt himself shrivel up inside at the look of shock came over Star's face. "Oh Star, I'm sorry I didn't me-" Star held up her hand cutting him off.

"No Marco, I understand. I won't bother you unless if needed." Star then took the Sandvich and ripped it in half putting one half on his desk. "Here, I think you need this after all I put you through." Marco went to speak again but Star had closed the door behind her and ran to her room. She leapt in through her door and locked it behind her leaping onto her bed in frustration whispering to herself. "Do you really think that Marco? Am I just someone that needs to be fussed over at times?" ***throb pang*** She was aware that the words were spoken only in a heated argument after all that Marco had gone through and he didn't mean it... but it still hurt. "Damn it Marco I'm not made out of glass." Star took a bite from the Sandvich calming down slightly as she waited for the evening to progress.

* * *

Star had finally gathered herself to do her homework in a distracted fashion that she felt hindered her quality but didn't really care at the moment. She was considering going to Marco to let him know that she knew he didn't mean it but the fact that his music was playing and he hadn't come to her was making her hold off. 'He has always come to me in the past when he felt like he offended or hurt me even with the field trip situation. Why is he holding back now?' Star thought to herself in worry. As she finished up her homework and the thoughts came into her head she heard Angie call up to get them to help with supper. Star sighed getting up and going downstairs knowing she could talk to Marco afterword and find out what was wrong. As she got downstairs she saw Marco wasn't down yet and even heard the music still playing.

"Say Angie, where's Marco?" Angie turned towards Star and smiled answering her question.

"I think he's still sad over his breakup. Let's get dinner out and you can go up to Marco to bring him down." Star nodded in consent and as they set things up she asked Angie a question.

"I kind of went to help him out of his state earlier and I think I made things worse. Could you help me out with him?" Angie smiled and nodded as she went up with Star to get Marco down. "Hey Marco, I'm sorry about the 'incident' earlier can I come in?" When there was no response Angie opened the door so Star could step in with her behind Star revealing Marco to actually be sitting on his bed with his hoodie up and back to them. "Look Marco, I know…" Star froze for a second as she sniffed the air and, while she did not have a sense of smell compared to a tracking animal, she recognized that the figure was not Marco. She held up her hand keeping Angie back as she moved forward. "… things got a little heated there and you didn't mean it. I just want to get let you know that we are besties and that- Entrapping Snake Vines!" Star shot a wave of snakes and vines at the figure entrapping them in a cocoon of sorts making them fall to the floor with Star leaping on them. "Who are you and what have you done with Marco?!" Star pointed the wand at the forest Barbarian she recognized as Hiccup who spoke with a grim tone.

"Well, you catch on fast Mudblood. We have kidnapped your guardian under the orders of Lord Mildrew after you cast a spell to drive Mavis mad. Now your guardian will die before the dawn tomorrow…" Star blinked in shock at all that was happening with a strangled gasp. "…unless you bring us the wand. I will leave you directions to where you are supposed to go and you will come alone unless you want him dead. Make your choice Star." They stared at each other for a few seconds before he spoke again. "Also could you let me go because if I can't exactly go back tied up like this." Star nodded in dull shock letting him go with him opening the window before leaping out of it. Star stared out after him as Angie spoke up.

"Oh… my God. We need to call the police now… no wait that won't work they aren't from earth are they?" Star turned her head to see Angie was in a worked up state now as Raphael poked his head into the room in confusion.

"What is going…" Angie cut him off grabbing onto his shirt.

"Our son has just been kidnapped by extradimensional raiders who are ransoming him for Star's wand!" Raphael stood there in shock just trying to grasp what that meant as Angie continued. "We need to do something. Where is my phone and for that matter Moon's num…"

"No." Angie and Raphael turned towards Star who had just finished reading the directions she had been given. "I'll get him back; if I don't go alone they'll just kill him." Star pulled out her scissors and used them to cut a portal. "If I'm not back by morning then call my mom, not before. I WILL rescue Marco from these guys." Star then stepped through the portal closing it behind her to a still shocked Angie and Raphael who stared at where she disappeared from for a solid 5 minutes before Angie spoke again.

"Raphie, get my phone now."

* * *

Star leapt through the portal a short distance from where she was supposed to hop out originally. She was a child but she was well educated on when an ambush could be laid for you and knew better then to just leap in head first. She took a quick look around seeing she had popped out in a hybrid of forest and swamp land getting a feeling for what might happen in a fight and then stalked over to the meeting place quietly. She peeked her head out from behind trees and logs as she circled the area trying to find out where everyone was with a surprising amount of success. Due to her Mewman and Septarian genetics mixing she had exceptional low light vision and could pick out ten figures surrounding a small clearing with something tied up at the center. Breathing in and out slowly Star went out and stepped into the clearing memorizing where the figures were and moved slowly to the center. She could see the tied up figure that had Marco's hoodie upon closer inspection,but she could tell it wasn't him by the way it laid slightly crumpled up, and moved to where there was a plate sitting down next to him. 'Put the wand here and we will not attack' was the phrase written on a note on top of the plate. Star scoffed and held up her wand shouting 'Ruby Red Disco Shine!'

Star closed her eyes as a bright light issued out blinding everyone and then spoke again 'Pervasive Pecking Pillbugs!' causing a swarm of pillbugs with wings to come out of her wand targeting all the barbarians like heat seeking missiles. As they swarmed Star shot generic magic missiles, she actually had to come up with that herself as no other spell caster had thought to do so, to take out three of them quickly before the barbarians got organized. When they did the remaining seven charged forward trying to fend off the pillbugs with Star shooting more of them. 'Broken Heart Shard Storm' A shower of heart shaped missiles struck out taking down two more barbarians with another one being completely swarmed by the pillbugs. The remaining four closed in with Star leaping over the head of one to slam her wand down on his head with it giving out a whiny of sorts. However the barbarian did not go down because he was wearing a helmet and punch her in the gut making her reel as another tried to bear hug her from behind.

Star growled in desperation and bit down on the one who grabbed her making them let go of her while screaming 'AHHHH get her off' . Another tried dogpiling the princess but Star slipped out from underneath her and toppled her into the one she bit. However her success came to an end when another hit her in the head with a Warhammer directly enough to make her spin out of control and drop her wand. As she tried to get her bearings another barbarian came up behind her muzzling her before doing a bear hug holding her in place. As Star struggled meekly she saw some of the barbarians getting up with one going for the wand chuckling evilly before speaking.

"That was well played, but you are only one person and nowhere near strong enough to take us all…" The barbarian was interrupted however by a rock hitting her square in the face and throwing her back.

"That would be true if she was alone, but I am here." A thick Russian accent called out as a figure leapt out of the sky landing on two figures trying to get back up smacking them down effortlessly. "As Buff Frog captain of the Royal Guard of Princess butterfly you are all under arrest. If you resist I will use lethal force as needed." He showed his hands had his spike iron fists over his hands showing he would use lethal force rather quickly.

With this in mind the group immediately dispersed running in all directions not even bothering to pick up the wand as they ran. The barbarian holding Star dropped her in to a dazed heap as Buff Frog immediately came over to secure her safety. As he pulled the muzzle off Star got up and began babbling.

"We need to find Marco… he was kidnapped… they wanted the…"

"Ease up there ease up, you'll no one good rushing around in a blind panic." Buff Frog cut Star off sitting her down. "Ok, now tell me what happened." After Star had quickly gone over everything Buff Frog sat back and absorbed it for a second. "That is pretty bad. Fortunately I placed something that will help us track them back to their hideout. I suspect they are not too far away in case if things turned south. We will go rescue Marco from these rebel scum but first… how did you get back to Mewni?" Star would have panicked but she was so worried she just blurted out everything.

"Ponyhead gave us her scissors and we have been using them to jump dimensions. Also these guys have been attacking us ever since I first came to earth." Buff Frog blinked in shock at this and Star realized what she said. "Please don't tell mom and dad that second fact, I don't want to be taken away from earth." Buff Frog considered it for a second before nodding.

"I get it. Don't worry you will not have to leave earth, but you will explain about the dimensional scissors." Star nodded in dull acceptance when another thought crossed her mind.

"Wait… what are you doing out here?" Buff Frog chuckled and beckoned her over to the side with Star scooping up her wand before joining him.

"Look in this sack." Star looked at a big sack Buff Frog pulled out from the undergrowth as he opened it reveal some sort of gelatinous like orbs with little black things with big eyes on the inside of them. "Baby Frog Monsters often die from various causes before being picked up by families at the main incubation area, you know that right?" Star nodded aware of how the frogs communally raise their children when very young to save space and resources before families got to pick which children they wanted. "Well for the first time in generations there were more children than the families were willing or capable of taking in. So they sent a message out to everyone if they could take in children we should. I of course showed up because while I have you moye ditya I have always wanted to be a true father. And due to my proximity to the royal family and better healthcare everyone agreed I should take all 14 of them; although two are technically within the same egg." Star gazed at them in awe for a second before Buff Frog closed the sack and spoke in a serious voice. "But we do not have time to dwell on this as your friend is in danger right?" Star nodded snapping herself to reality fully prepared. "I put tracking dust on those two I hit knowing they would run off, so let's get to tracking." Star nodded and ran off to the side to pick up her wand and Marco's hoodie giving it a deep sniff before tying it around her neck.

'Don't worry Marco, we're coming.'


	47. Storm The Castle Pt 2

"So, you are the girl's protector. I must admit not much to look at but looks are often deceiving as is the case of Moon." Marco glared in an annoyed and exasperated manner at Lord Mildrew as he gave a token struggle against the restraints in his swivel chair.

"Ohhhhh man am I sick and tired of this." Marco spoke in a slightly sarcastic manner. "I have done every single thing… oh wait." Marco swiveled the chair around in a circle staring at Mildrew when he was done. "Now I've done everything. Now let me out of here and fight me bitch." Mildrew chuckled at Marco tapping on the crystal that trapped Marco in a rectangular prison before speaking.

"I could, but you would wind up right back where you started even if you defeated me due to everyone else here." Mildrew gestured around the underground base that seemed to be both tunneled out and made out of the living wood of a gigantic system of roots. "And if we did you might get hurt in the process perhaps even killed. I still need you alive to 'negotiate' with Star if you will." Marco groaned and slumped back in the surprisingly comfortable chair and spoke in a tired manner.

"Even if we were on good terms Star would never trade her wand in for me, it's too important to her." Mildrew raised an eyebrow and spoke in a surprised manner.

"You two had a falling out of sorts? Well no wonder we were able to apprehend you so easily. Sit tight boy as you are going nowhere for a very long time then." Mildrew walked away with Marco groaning in protest and looked around the base.

The hall appeared oddly shaped being slightly curved and very long and short with several doorways in the hall. Marco saw some of the barbarians looking at him in interest but left him be to go about different tasks throughout the base. Marco groaned again at how easily they caught him and was about to test his restraints again when two familiar figures walked up with the smaller one speaking in a somewhat condescending manner to him.

"Well, so much for the mighty guardian. Can't even protect yourself." Marco glared at Selene and Dumnorix who both looked at him in pity responding in kind.

"So, resorted to such tactics to get to Star, how desperate are you?" They both laughed at that with Dumnorix responding.

"Well when you have been hunted like a wild animal by your own countrymen siding with Monsters savages you tend to grasp at every option." Selene spoke up at this point.

"But now this ends and a true queen of Mewni will sit on the throne and bring justice for all who have suffered at Moon's atrocities." Marco outright laughed at them taking them both off guard as he responded.

"Equality and heroism are crimes? Moon is an awesome person for running a kingdom and taking care of her daughter despite all you people have done to sabotage her. Wow you people are most definitely the bad…" Selene opened the door to his prison and punched him across the face giving him a black eye before speaking.

"You just saw the good aspect of her; a clever but thin veil she keeps up to make people believe she is not Toffee's slave bitch. If she was so intent on justice she would never have let this war happen in the first place." Selene walked away with Dumnorix closing the door and sitting down next to Marco with an oddly concerned look in his eyes.

"What do you want 'dumb'norix." Dumnorix laughed at Marco and spoke softly.

"That was kind of clever, I'll give you that. There is one question I have to ask you…" He leaned in close speaking in a whisper. "… did Star put a spell on Mavis to drive her mad?" Marco blinked in shock as Dumnorix continued. "She was acting off for a while and after snapping in anger a few days ago she ran off. I need to know what Star has done to her." Marco blinked for a second before answering in anger.

"Star doesn't do that kind of thing. Sure she beats you up but she would never do something like that." Much to Marco's surprise Dumnorix sighed in a mixture of relief and sadness before speaking.

"I was afraid of that. You two seem too noble a pair of warriors to stoop to those tactics." Marco blinked in confusion as Dumnorix continued. "But enough of that, I am fairly certain Star will come for you. I know she will not just hand over the wand but we will convince her otherwise. If she does you will be returned unharmed, if not…" Dumnorix smiled cracking his knuckles. "… well you are still my enemy." As he got up Marco called out to him.

"Wait." Dumnorix looked at him in confusion and annoyance. "Back at the historical event Selene said something about seeking justice for her family. I get Moon started a war to end the oppression of the Shadow Clause, or whatever it was called, but what could Moon have possibly done that was so bad as to drive anyone against her like that." Dumnorix sighed in sympathy and sat down again speaking with a strange wisdom about him that matched his aged appearance.

"So, wondering if your enemies are people too huh?" Marco blinked and nodded slowly. "Well it wasn't just what Moon did; it's what she didn't do as well. Many of us that you see here were once warriors of various noble houses, most notably house Johansen." He leaned back against the wall of the cell as if letting memories flow through him as he spoke. "House Johansen wished only to declare independence from the kingdom of Mewni during the war of Moonlight Shadow but Moon would not allow that. So on the third year of the war she stormed castle Johansen and massacred everyone within, even those that put up only token resistance." Marco blinked in shock at the words as Dumnorix continued. "But that was too be expected honestly with Monsters serving her; what was not expected was her ally River Johansen joining the assault and killing his own father." Marco's thoughts drifted to the boisterous and happy go lucky man who was father of Tempest and imagined him doing something like that as he spoke.

"Wait, Tempest's father is a Johansen?" Dumnorix spat to the side and swore quietly before continuing.

"He WAS a Johansen before he shamed his family name by running away from home to saddle up with a pixie that made him go soft towards Moon's cause. He sided with Monsters, the very same creatures who took countless lives of Mewman settlers when the border wars broke out hundreds of years ago. He left his heritage behind when we decided to go down our own path and leave the kingdom of Mewni when he helped Moon destroy our ancestral home and kill his father." Marco sat in dumb shock as Dumnorix continued. "His own mother witnessed the deed and went mad out of despair. To this day River keeps his mother locked up now for her 'protection' and 'well-being'. BAH If he wanted to avoid that he should have sided with his family in the first place as he was supposed to." Dumnorix looked at Marco who was now nervously pulling at his restraints with Dumnorix smiling coldly at him.

"But that was nothing compared to what was happening all around them. Peasantry and Monsters rose up in riots all throughout the kingdom not 1 week after Moon was crowned to 'cleanse the land' of those who had 'oppressed' them for so long. We provided commoners homes, protection, food, and a cause worth working and fighting for and they massacred us the first opportunity they got." Marco memories went back to his first visit to Mewni when Star had mentioned something about many of the nobility dying at the end of The War of Moonlight Shadow and shuddered at it. Dumnorix smiled again at him. "Sickened by how cruel people can be." Marco shook his head and responded.

"Actually this reminds or something known as the French Revolution back on earth. It was bad." Marco looked at Dumnorix who did not hold back.

"Well did the ruler of that realm just ignore all the crimes the peasants did and used it to rope the nobility into being her lackey's or die at the peasantry's hands?" Marco shook his head no and then yes in shock as Dumnorix continued. "Well to add insult to injury she offered up a 'pardon' for any nobility that fought back against the peasant uprising like we were wrong for fighting back just to stay alive." He spat to the side again in disgust and fixed Marco with his one eye which showed repressed rage caused by hopelessness. "Every single person you see in this base fights because we would not bend the knee to this false justice Moon touts about. We WILL get full justice and restore Mewni to its proper glory one way or another. And if you are wondering about Selene…" He looked to the side making Marco jumped in shock at the fact that a crowd had gathered around watching Marco react to the story. Dumnorix chuckled a little at Marco's reaction before he began speaking again.

* * *

 **watch?v=tqQ7x2FQCvM (Overwatch Dragons Music Theme)**

 _In ancient times the kingdom of Mewni was beset by a threat even greater then Monsters or forbidden magic users, the dragons. These beasts burned farms and homes for sport and stole whatever they could eat like Mewni was an all you could eat buffet, the people of Mewni included. There were few of them but far fewer were able to fight these beasts and best them due to their sheer might and power. One however found a secret to fighting them; a warrior by the name of Yorimasa defeated a dragon and in exchange for its life promised her a way to turn the dragons very weaponry against them. She agreed and the dragon taught her the secret of Shimazu, calling the spirt dragons to redirect their powerful breath attacks to turn them against the dragons. She mastered this art and taught it to many warriors who used it to defeat this scourge by forcing them onto even ground and annihilating the dragons one by one. Some even expanded on her art and turned the spirits themselves into a powerful offensive weapon against ones enemies. She gained such renown that the Butterfly queen gave her a high position of power with her becoming the forefront of Mewman knight hood taking the surname Dragon to show they possessed the dragons power. While other houses rose and fell they stayed strong since the house's founding more than 800 years ago… until the war of Moonlight Shadow._

 _During the war the house of Dragon was nearly emptied as the knights answered the call to Queen Willow to protect the nation from the upstart whore Moon and the Monster who controlled her as a puppet. But that left their home vulnerable to attack when only the lord and his immediate family were left to rule. Most had not learned how to use the powers of Shimazu by this point and to properly use them one must have something to channel the power, usually a tattoo, and something to project the power, a specially made weapon is commonly preferred. They were unable to call upon their power when they were attacked by a group of Monsters who left Moon's side and were led by an entity called Silvicar. Using a powerful weapon known as 'black powder' he fell upon the family by surprise and wiped out the residents destroying their home, shattering their clan. The knights with Willow did not leave their post though, knowing they would get vengeance soon enough… only for them to be proved wrong. Willow surrendered to Moon who, while she had defeated Silvicar, had pardoned the Monsters who had formally served him. Hundreds of years of dedication and commitment thrown out like garbage because she wished to establish 'peaceful' relations with Monsters._

 _The remaining family members of house Dragon fled from Moon deeming her a leader a not worth serving; including the only survivors of Silvicar's attack Marigold Dragon, the matriarch of house Dragon at the time, and her near infant daughter Selene Dragon. Not much is known about what happened to them but Selene one day showed up to our group even younger then you are with a scroll of the arts of Shimazu asking to be allowed to fight. So we let her in and while she trained with us and as best she could in the art of Shimazu giving herself their tattoo even she has not be able to test her abilities… until now._ **(end music)**

* * *

Marco sat there in dull shock as Dumnorix finished the story with many of the warriors holding their heads sadly or crying silently at the great atrocities that had happened. After an unknown length of time Marco finally spoke.

"So… you guys are fighting to get revenge for what Moon could not prevent from happening to you." Dumnorix scoffed again and spoke in a tired manner.

"We fight to save Mewni from itself. Moon is allowing it to lose its traditions and without them we lose who we are; but she also lets crimes committed against us go unpunished and, while she will not say it outright, I know she believes we deserved such punishments in the first place for crimes we never committed. But some of us fight to see our families again as if we were to return now we would be killed on sight as criminals. Selene in particular wishes to find her mother again." The group around them nodded silently as he continued. "That wand Star possesses holds great power but it's the book that is also important. Within is a dark chapter that holds many spells of corruption and ruin but one spell is useful despite its darkness, The All Seeing Eye." The group nodded in appreciation of that with Marco looking on too shocked still to be confused. "With it you can find and being at any place no matter what, and Selene wishes to use it to find her mother. You see Marco, Star's wand not only represents the power we need to fight but our hope for recovering what we can of what we've lost." Marco sat there in dull shock before speaking slowly in a staggered fashion.

"But… Star did… nothing wrong…" The group around him laughed bitterly at that as Dumnorix stood up and took Marco's restraints off while striding for the door to the cell speaking to Marco.

"Neither did we but look at where we are now. She is a half-Monster, an unholy binding of two races that must be kept separate. She also stands in our way of what we need so we will fight her to reclaim what is ours and to restore balance to Mewni. Nothing personal Marco, this is war after all." Dumnorix stepped outside and closed the door and locked it behind him with the group walking off leaving Marco alone.

"But… Star did… nothing wrong…" He stared ahead in dull shock for a while to be snapped out of it by returning warriors who were injured calling out to everyone; something along the lines of Star following them here with reinforcements.

* * *

"Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnd I lost them. Damn it." Buff Frog slumped against a tree frustrated as Star rubbed her tail nervously as she spoke.

"Well they couldn't have gotten far right? Maybe we can circle out and look for…" Buff Frog groaned in annoyance as he answered Star.

"We are in swamp land now; if they were covering their tracks, which they were, it is near impossible to track them in the fading light. We have to wait till morning." Star shivered nervously and rubbed her tail even more as she responded.

"We can't wait till tomorrow. If I don't get him back tonight they'll kill him!" Star looked around desperately looking for anything to send them in the right direction. "There has to be some lead somewhere."

The duo were currently in the middle of a half forest half swamp like terrain with willow trees and low shrubs being the main plant life outside of the water. A low mist had also begun to creep in giving the area a very foreboding appearance similar to a horror story. Star shivered and moved in close to Buff Frog partially out of worry and partially because she had forgotten how cold it could get on Mewni. Back on earth she didn't really need to worry about temperatures during the day as Marco claimed that spring was turning into summer and it did get quite warm in their area. Buff Frog held her close and comforted her as best he could with Star's mind going over what she could have done. She could have stopped one of the men from running off to get directions, she could have just apologized for almost getting Marco killed to get the Sandvich, she could have not asked him to go along in the first place, she could have…

"Something approaches." Star stiffened up at first to buff Frog's voice and then relaxed against him ready for action.

They waited in their current stance to not let anyone know they were onto them approaching ready to spring into action. After a little while Star heard muffled steps like someone was running through the undergrowth not paying attention to where they were going. She looked up at Buff Frog who nodded and picked her up slinging her onto his back making ready to throw her when the person showed themselves. Star growled silently her eyes going to yellow cat pupil as she waited to see who the wanderer was. After a few seconds more a figure burst out of the vegetation with Buff Frog immediately throwing Star at them with Star landing on top near effortlessly. The figure could only look at them taken completely off guard as Star smashed them to the ground with her wand and pointed it at them with it ready to fire.

"Alright, you are done…. Mavis?" Star blinked in shock as she saw the person she had knocked down was in fact Mavis. "Where is Marco you bitch!"

"Child language." Buff Frog spoke up to Star as Mavis stuttered out a reply.

"Huh… Marco? Is he not with you?" Star growled and shot a 'Ferocious Fire Ant Swarm' at her with the ants biting Mavis making her scream out in pain. "What is going on? What are you doing out here and why are you asking about your guide!?" Buff Frog put his hand on Star's shoulder and spoke cautiously.

"I think she is telling the truth my little munchkin." Star looked at Mavis and actually bothered looking at her now.

She wasn't wearing armor and didn't have her sword on her or her skull helmet leaving her in aged and slightly tattered clothing. Her hair was matted down and dirt streaked her clothes and form as if she hadn't been properly taking care of herself, or was unable to. Her eyes were also red and baggy from lack of sleep and her voice sounded hoarse as if she had not drunk in days. Star realized that Mavis was not just not a threat but she likely had no idea of what was going on and was desperate for help herself. Star undid her spell and pointed her wand at Mavis threateningly and spoke softly with a hard undertone.

"Ok, what do you know has been going at your base for the last few days?" Mavis blinked in confusion and sat up as best she could trying to clear her throat.

"I'm… not sure. I have not been back there in days." Buff Frog grunted sympathetically and handed her a water skin which she drank from gratefully and emptied the whole thing. "Thank you. I left secretly a few days ago when it became clear something was wrong with Lord Mildrew." Star blinked in confusion and Buff Frog went stock still as she continued. "I think I may have been drugged by him into acting rash at one point and was using his sword to do… something to me. There was a red glow along it and within his eye. I have no idea what is going on and I have not had the best recovery as my companions tried bringing me back to him. I know they would not hurt me but if they bring me back he will." Star blinked trying to assess the situation as Buff Frog spoke up.

"Perhaps we could benefit each other..." Mavis immediately shot him a suspicious look before speaking up.

"Are you asking me to betray my comrades and work with the daughter of the woman who is running this kingdom into the ground?" Buff Frog slowly stepped towards her accentuating each step until he was towering over her and spoke ever so softly.

"Do you have a better option 'cyka **(bitch in Russian)** '?" Mavis trembled slightly as Buff Frog spoke to her. "You have had your fun in punching at kids but now you are dealing with a grown up. You will lead us to your base so we may rescue Marco and deal with Lord Mildrew and you are going to be happy I do not squish your skull like a ripe tomato, da?" Mavis nodded slowly to that clearly outmatched and terrified as Buff Frog motioned to Star. "A quick word my child." Star came over to the side with Mavis watching them unwilling to move given what Buff Frog might to her if she didn't cooperate. "Now Star a word of warning, Lord Mildrew is not like the ones you have fought before. He is powerful, intelligent, ruthless, and merciless. He trapped your mother when she went on a stealth mission to assassinate him by leaving a pattern of where he went and when he would be vulnerable to assassination. He knows of your magic and knows how to counter it from someone with far more experience then you." Star nodded at him feeling fear creep in from the fact that Buff Frog of all people seemed scared. She had also heard of stories her mother had told her of just how cruel Lord Mildrew could be when he was a member of the Shadow Clause.

"We still need to go, they have Marco." Star firmed herself up on the outside though she was holding her tail like a stuffed animal as Buff Frog replied.

"I was hoping you would say that." He smiled a large gap toothed grin and patted her shoulder. "Let's get Marco back and show these Forest Barbarians what happens when you kidnap and attack children." Star nodded as Buff Frog called over to Mavis. "Show us how to get to your home, Моя леди (Moya ledi)." He bowed to her as Mavis got up brushing herself off and led them through the swamp towards a thicket of very large and ancient willow trees.

'Don't worry Marco, we are almost there.' Star thought hopeful they could do something.

 **Omni P: Well... that got heavy fast.**

 **SN: No kidding.**

 **WH: Well there are two sides at least to every conflict with right and wrong on both sides and different perspectives. Never assume the other side of any conflict is 'just evil' because of what they do. Moon had to forgive a lot of atrocities in order to establish peace in Mewni after all.**


	48. Storm the Castle Pt 3

Marco watched the warriors scramble around as they seemed to set things up to welcome a guest for dinner of all things. They laid down a table and set it up with a table cloth and put down dishes as if they were setting up for a romantic dinner for two; with an old fashioned three candle holder making an appearance as well to top it off. Marco shook his head trying to figure out what exactly what they were doing as Mildrew walked up to one of the chairs and sat down putting his sword to the side. The other barbarians formed a group behind him with Selene flanking him on his left and Dumnorix on his right.

"okaaaaaay, this is getting weird." Marco said to himself and double took as food was placed on the table in front of Mildrew and the other seat. "This is getting really weird. You do realize Star is not going to go on a date with you right?" Everyone looked at Marco in confusion with Mildrew shrugging before replying.

"I don't intend it that way, just a way of welcoming her." He then tapped on his sword and a red flash emanated from the gem in the hilt. "Ole hiljaa poika. Hanki valmiita ihmisiä, hän tulee tänne pian." Marco blinked in confusion as the warriors respond with a unified grunt and made ready with Marco responding in confusion.

"Ummm, what did you just do?" When no one responded Marco shouted out again. "Seriously you are beginning to annoy me again." At this Dumnorix turned his head slightly and shook it as if to say his talking would do no good.

Marco was about to yell again but realized something about what had just happened, they were speaking the same language Star was when she turned off her translator. 'So Mildrew was allowing me to understand them just now… interesting.' Marco thought in annoyance as he slumped against the chair trying to keep his mind off of the revelations Dumnorix had given him about the conflict in Mewni. As he waited the warriors seemed to converse with each other even though he didn't understand a word they were saying. After a few minutes however he finally did understand what some of them were saying and shot up straight in his chair which got Mildrew's attention.

"Ah it seems the boy can understand us again, that means she is close. To entrance, don't let her see you, wait for my command." The barbarians other than Selene and Dumnorix went to either side of what appeared to be the main entrance and waited in ambush. 'Oh, I have a bad feeling about this.' Marco thought as he watched the entrance in worry.

* * *

Mavis led the way as she began climbing an ancient willow with nine trunks coming out of the ground that looked like something out of a fantasy story in Star's eyes. Buff Frog nodded his head in respect to how well hidden this place was only to nod again when the entrance was revealed to be a trap door in the center of where the trunks connected. Mavis looked up at them and spoke softly and nervously.

"This is the quick entrance to the hide out which turns into a slide to keep people from entering stealthily. However if stealth is the key there are a series of handholds on the inside ceiling which you can use to slip down slowly." Buff Frog nodded again with Mavis opening up the trap door and slipping into the tunnel.

"Well munchkin, time for the princess to rescue her knight da?" Buff Frog smiled at Star who nodded smiling nervously as he went before her looking for the handholds.

The ad hoc trio slipped down the passageway from hand hold to hand hold for a short while before coming to a small closet like space with a door on the opposite side of where they came in. Buff Frog went to open the door but Mavis stopped him shaking her head no and motioned for him to put his ear against the door. As he did so Mavis looked around the left side of the room before finding a hidden nook and opening a small crawl space area. After listening for a few seconds Buff Frog heard something and motioned for Star to go to the crawl space that had just opened up with Star nodding in worry. She slipped through the crawl space easily with Mavis right behind her and Buff Frog bringing up the rear. After crawling for about a minute they emerged into a room that looked like a side sleeping chamber with Mavis speaking up.

"Mildrew most likely knows you are coming and has planned an ambush at the main entrance. If you go out that door and down the hallway to your left you will come to the main gathering area. I will go to the main entrance and enter to try and distract everyone while you take on-"

"Hold up there." Buff Frog cut Mavis off fixing her in a distrustful gaze. "Why should we trust you. You seek the wand and would be alright with Star being dead." Star shuddered at the thoughts that had been at the back of her mind for a while as Mavis answered stoutly.

"Yes I do want the wand but I wish to see whatever has control of Mildrew gone more. And as long as that… thing is in place my comrades will be under its control. If you don't trust me, trust I wish to help out my comrades above all else." Buff Frog reluctantly nodded at that with Mavis slipping back into the crawl space. "If a fight does break out, go for Lord Mildrew first got it?" Not waiting for an answer Mavis slipped back through the crawl space with Buff Frog pulling Star along through the hideout.

As it turned out Mavis's directions were correct and they peaked around a corner to see what could only be described as a dinner for two set up in the center of the room. Mildrew was seated at one end with Selene and Dumnorix flanking him and Marco on the opposite side of the room. Star could also see a few barbarians in a flanking position to the main entrance doors as if ready to grapple anyone who steps through. Star looked up at Buff Frog who was scanning the room taking in every detail before he looked down at Star and spoke softly.

"Launch a spell in Mildrew's direction once Mavis has them let their guard down, I will rush in and clear out as much rabble as I can before engaging that big one. You focus on taking out the crystal prison Marco is in." Star went to speak up with Buff Frog cutting her off. "And yes I am aware of the sword Selene bears now, and have a plan for that." He gave a sharp toothed grin at Star which she returned with her own nervous sharp toothed grin as Mildrew seemed to perk up.

"Ah, I believe out guests have arrived." Everyone turned to the main entrance as the door was opened with Mildrew standing up and bowing. "Pleasure to meet you once again… Mavis?!" Everyone in the room looked in shock as Mavis entered the room with an air of confidence about her and spoke clearly.

"Pleasure to finally return. My apologies for leaving so abruptly but there were a few issues I needed to work out. Now I know what all of you are thinking and it is not true, Star did not put a spell on my mind to cloud my judgement. If that were the case I would have launched myself at you before Mildrew finished his sentence as that girl does not know how to use the wand right." Everyone looked at each other in confusion before seemingly consenting that she did have a point. "Selene, I apologize for my actions as I was not thinking clearly, but for a different reason then you might think. It has come to my attention that something is controlling Lord Mildew's mind." Everyone gave her a deadpan stare as Mavis continued. "I know that does sound crazy but here is the thing, what happened to me a few days ago was not magically induced but drug induced." At this Dumnorix got a thoughtful look on his face rubbing his beard in thought as Mavis continued. "I just wish to confirm my suspicions on Lord Mildrew so we can reconnect and become a group once more. We have been through decades of conflict together my brothers and sisters, you would know I would never lie to you right?" everyone looked at each other with Dumnorix speaking up.

"She does have a point there. I did see Lord Mildrew put a fine white powder in Mavis's tea several times just before she began acting off." Everyone looked at Dumnorix in shock as Mildrew looked at him in outright confusion speaking up.

"I never did such a thing! We are all in this to the end why would I betray Mavis like this?" Everyone looked at each other in confusion with a strange look passing over Mildrew's face, like he had lost consciousness for a second, before a dark look settled over it. "Star is here isn't she?" Everyone looked at Mildrew again in confusion as Mildrew continued. "She has in fact taken your mind and now Dumnorix's as well. Well little mud-blood, let's see how you like it when I play dirty as well." He picked up his sword and waved it at the crystal chamber making it suddenly start to slowly shrink in size with Marco panicking.

"AHHHHHHHHH! Someone, get me out of here!" Star seeing this immediately panicked and made her move leaping into the cavern.

'Sparkly scythe Slicer!' Star shot a gigantic scythe that twirled towards Mildrew cutting through everything in its path immediately getting everyone's attention. Selene leapt in front of Mildrew drawing her sword bellowing out 'Ryūjin no ken wo kūrae!' sending out the golden Shimazu spirit within. As the dragon went to redirect it however Buff Frog emerged and threw something that looked like a mudpie at Selene's head making her lose focus just enough for the scythe to not be redirected at them but at the crystal prison. Everyone held their breath and winced when the scythe made contact but it simply shattered against the crystal prison not leaving a scratch. Star breathed a sigh in relief which turned into a sigh of exasperation as she realized this was gonna be harder to destroy then she thought. At this the whole area turned into a gigantic brawl with the forest barbarians charging the duo and Mavis tackling one of the warriors wresting them to the ground before taking his weapons. Selene outright charged the duo her sword held high and with a look of murder on her face with Buff Frog stepping between them. Star left the two to fight and shot a 'Rainbow tusnami' across the battlefield forcing the warriors to either scatter or be swept aside by the tide. Two of the barbarians tried dog-piling her but she turned her wand into a pollaxe and flipped one over her head before smashing another one down. She tried charging across the field but Lord Mildrew had moved to intersect her and stood with an arrogant smirk on his face.

"So, we meet at last Star. I must admit you do have a bit of your mother's charming appearances and free spirit." Star tried looking at him defiantly but the cold arrogance in his eyes made her shiver in fear. "I see you know who I am given your reaction. Now I don't like mixing business with pleasure, but I'm really gonna enjoy this!" He swiped his sword at Star which she just barely managed to block rolling away from him enough to shoot a spell at the prison.

'Pillbug Pill bombs!' Star shot a few glowing turquoise see through bugs at the crystal beeping a little before they exploded… only to leave no mark as well. Star couldn't shot another spell however as Mildrew was on her fast and with skill that clearly outclassed Star's. Mavis had knocked out one of her men and was trying to fight two more with limited success. She blocked the blows of one and smacked him down with a half-sword technique but due to her weakened condition could not react fast enough to block the other one. She came up behind Mavis holding her in a tight embrace and went to subdue her until a large fist came out of nowhere punching her into the wall. As she fell leaving an impression of her in the wall Mavis was helped up by Dumnorix who smiled and spoke to her.

"I know that you must be telling the truth to dare side with half-blood princess and her Froggy bodyguard. I got confirmation from Marco that Star would not do such a thing even if she was capable of it." Mavis nodded and sighed in relief as another barbarian came up confused.

"Um Dumnorix, shouldn't you be trying to-" He was cut off as Dumnorix punched him into the wall as well leaving another impression in the dirt.

Buff Frog fought Selene showing that he was surprisingly agile for his bulk and age dodging her swings and landing blows in return. Selene grunted in frustration at such a well-trained opponent and threw her sword to the side pulling out her trench knives to fight with something familiar to her. At this Buff Frog was allowed enough room to pull out his Iron fists and engaged Selene again this time managing to get in a glancing blow with his Iron fists. Selene stumbled just enough for Buff Frog to land a more solid punch to her chest making her fall gasping for breath as Buff Frog spoke.

"Well, not much padding there munchkin. Don't worry you will grow some eventually." Selene glared up at him and spoke in frustration.

"I am 22 years old, don't make fun of me mud roller." Buff Frog blinked in shock at this and stepped away slowly smiling nervously.

"I'll just leave you be then." He turned and ran for Star who was still engaged with Mildrew.

'Magical Hamster Ball' Star created an orb around her but was shattered by Mildrew's black sword with him chuckling in amusement. He did a strange twirl with his blade scoring a few superficial scratches on Star as if he was just toying with her. Star went to heal those wounds… but nothing happened. She looked at Mildrew in real fear now as he smiled in a strangely sweet fashion tapping his blade slightly striking at her again. However his attack was interrupted by Mavis who knocked his sword aside with her own sword making Mildrew stop in shock. Star shot a magic missile at him to force him back and turned back to the prison shooting a 'Raspberry panzer blast!' that hit the crystal hard but didn't even scratch it.

"How much punishment can that thing take?" Star muttered to herself nervously as the prison had shrunk to the point where Marco was kneeling down now trying to hold it up.

Marco was in a world of trouble as the crystal prison slowly but unceasingly moved down onto him. Marco grunted pushing against it as best he could but was becoming clear that he was having no impact on it whatsoever. He looked up to the fight seeing people striking at each other desperately with Star having to turn and hold off Forest Barbarians who had recovered from her wave of rainbows. He watched Selene recover from her beating at Buff Frog's hands leap at Buff Frog only for Dumnorix to body slam her sending her flying across to the wall right next to him with a muttered 'For crying out loud…' Marco chuckled slightly but was distracted by Mavis trying to fight Mildrew who seemed to be holding back and trying to convince her that he was not her enemy. Marco shook his head trying to get a clear view and idea of what was going on focusing on Mavis in confusion, wondering why she was helping Star. He also noticed that she wasn't wearing armor or camo leaving her loose and somewhat tattered clothes to hang limply on her athletic and slightly curvaceous body…

"Damnit Marco, now is not the time to think about Butterfly Milfs." He paused when he realized he had said that out loud and looked up to see Selene had heard him and was staring at him wide eyed. "Ummmmmm… it's not what you think?" Selene surprisingly chuckled at him and spoke up.

"Yeah, my master is kind of hot isn't she?" As she spoke she slipped out of the notch she made in the wall through her impact landing on the ground limply. "*thump* Ow."

"Ooooooookkaaaaaaayyyyy-" He felt the crystal shift again shoving him down so he was on his hands and knees with the crystal pushing him down still further. "AH! SOMEONE, ANYONE, HEEEEELP!" At Marco's cry Star turned towards him with a look of horror crossing her face as she knew what was going to happen to him… and her eyes turned a red veined cat pupil yellow as she turned to the crystal.

"No." Star spoke in a vicious determined voice that got everyone's attention immediately. "Leave Marco alone."

Three of the barbarians leapt at her only for Star to just wave her wand in a long arc spitting out green corrupted magic. As she continued walking the three warriors felt a sharp pain in their chests that, upon looking down, revealed that Star had shot a bleeding hole clear through them. As they fell to the floor gasping their final breaths everyone, including Lord Mildrew, shied away from her in fear as she closed her eyes and raised her wand towards the prison. Her cheeks glowed a brilliant white as she gathered green corrupted magic and her ordinary pink magic to her wand at the same time. She opened her eyes and with an exhale shot the combined magical energy towards the prison in a brilliant flash of power that sent smoke billowing through the room. Everyone coughed heavily looking up slowly and waiting for the smoke to clear to discover Marco's fate. But as it turned out they didn't need to wait that long as Marco came flying out of the now shattered prison landing a kick to one of the warriors faces sending her reeling before yelling out.

"Star, I'm alright! You managed to break the prison!" Marco turned back towards Star who looked at him in shock for a second before leaping onto him with tears in her eyes.

"Marco, *sniff* I was so worried." The two stood there hugging for a second before the prison repaired itself and returned to its original height. "Good thing you got out of there so quickly huh?" Marco chuckled and replied to Star.

"Yeah. It's alright now Star. Now then let's teach this 'Lord' Mildrew a lesson." Star nodded and the duo turned towards Lord Mildrew who was looking at them in shock.

"But…. how… did you… manage…" He looked around seeing the other warriors were either to wounded, too dead, or to worried about their comrades to help him fight. Selene was still down and trying to get up with great difficulty and Dumnorix and Mavis were backing away unsure of what to do now. Buff Frog had also joined Star and Marco facing down Mildrew together. Mildrew growled and raised his sword up staring the trio down. "It does not matter; I am down but I am not…" He stopped however when his right arm moved on its own and snapped its fingers. "… out?" Buff Frog, Star, Marco, Selene, Dumnorix, and Mavis looked on in confusion at his snapping fingers until Marco fell to his knees in pain holding onto his arm.

"Gahhhh, what's going on?" Star immediately knelt next to him and shouted worriedly at Lord Mildrew.

"Wha-what did you do to him!?" Mildrew looked at his hand in shocked confusion and spoke slowly.

"I have no idea." At this Dumnorix and Mavis looked at each other with their suspicions confirmed and moved over to Selene picking her up and moving away to the Forest Barbarians. Meanwhile Marco pulled back his t-shirt to look at his arm.

"What is going… AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Star and Buff Frog looked down to see a slowly spreading patch of purplish skin that was slightly slimy. "STAR, IT'S THE SQUID ARM! I CAN HEAR ITS VOICE ALREADY!" Marco convulsed as another wave of pain racked him with Star raising her wand. 'Returnio Armi-'

" **That's not going to work again.** " Star stopped mid spell and looked up in shock at the suddenly deep voice that came out of Mildrew's mouth which seemed to shock even him. "Ah mmm, ahem. Yes well, I can restore your friend back normal but this sword has lost some of its power over time. I will require the wand to do so." Mildrew shook his head as if coming out of a trance before smiling at Star confidently.

Star looked down at Marco who was now writhing in pain and at Buff Frog who shrugged with a worried expression on his face. Star looked over at the Forest Barbarians who were gathering up their wounded and dead shooting them fearful glances. Star looked down at her wand and realized she had no options at this point unless if she wanted Marco to turn into- ***Throb pang*** Star shuddered and stood up walking over to Mildrew slowly and staring him straight in the eyes held out her wand to him before speaking.

"Just… save Marco you bastard." Mildrew nodded before replying.

"I always keep my promises." He reached down for the wand but as he touched it a powerful purplish force blasted Mildrew back 20 feet and Star into Buff Frog's arms. This got the attention of the retreating barbarians who were now watching them in morbid fascination. " **Grrrr, she booby-trapped the wand.** " Star stood up from Buff Frog's arms blinking in an attempt to clear her vision and yelled to him.

"I didn't do tha-"

" **I wasn't talking about you.** " Star blinked in confusion taking a deep breath and smelled something… off. She looked up at Lord Mildrew who was seemingly holding his eyepatch in place now as he moved back towards Star. " **No matter, there are other ways to…** "

"Wait." Star interrupted him and walked up to Lord Mildrew with everyone watching closely. As Star got up next to him she leaned in slightly and breathed in deeply taking in his scent and recognized something that shouldn't have been there. "You're… not Lord Midlrew are you?" Everyone stood stock still and held their breath as Lord Mildrew chuckled.

" **Clever girl."** He let the eye patch fall away exposing that he in fact had an eye there… two yellow eyes placed close together with no whites and black slits for pupils. " **Lord Mildrew is still in fact in here but he is… secondary so to speak. He is the body but I control him more or less.** " There were several shocked mutters from the barbarians as they took everything in. " **Of course that changes nothing at this point. Mildrew may not be able to but I can cure Marco of his affliction… for a price.** " Star held up her wand only to be stopped by him speaking again. " **No no I can't wield your wand at the moment due to what… she has done to it.** " For a moment his voice seemed to hold great emotional pain in it before he put himself back on track. " **I want you to destroy it.** " Star stood there in shock as Selene and Mavis immediately made a run towards them with Dumnorix attempting to stop them but only got Selene.

"NO, DON'T YOU DARE!" Selene beat at Dumnorix as best she could desperately yelling out to Star with tears in her eyes suddenly. "I NEED THAT WAND!" Mavis continued to charge forward with her sword held high until, almost lazily, Mildrew cut a portal with the black sword that sucked Mavis up into it before disappearing. Star blinked with dull shock at what had just happened and looked down at her wand and spoke again.

"But… I don't know how." The thing that possessed Lord Mildrew chuckled and spoke again.

" **You do even though you don't know you do. What is the first spell every queen teaches her daughter?** " Star blinked in recognition and looked up at him for a second with him smiling slightly. " **That's right, the whispering spell.** **I suggest you hurry, Marco is waiting**." He pointed to where Marco was still writhing on the floor in pain with the purplish patch spreading slowly.

"Alright." Star spoke shakily and knelt down onto the ground and began whispering into her wand. As she whispered into the wand an eerie stillness took over the room as if life itself was slowing to a standstill. The star in the wand began to lose its color fading away into black with the wings on the side of it dissolving into dust as Star continued whispering. As Star finished the spell the crown on the end of it shattered into tiny pieces with the wand going dead in Star's hands. Star then set the wand down reverently as her eyes went a depressing grayish–green with tears streaming down her face as the ghost of a small unicorn emerged from the wand and galloped away disappearing into thin air. Star looked up at Mildrew and spoke with a shaky whisper.

"Alright… I gave you what you wanted *sniff*… now give me back my Marco." Mildrew chuckled and patted Star on the head and spoke almost condescendingly.

" **Oh I wouldn't worry; a quick visit back to some magical healers and he will be right as rain with the taint gone for good. By my best estimate you have about 12 hours before the change is finished…** " He was interrupted however by a glow suddenly emerging from the wand as power seemed to course through it in an unstable fashion. " **… but you have bigger concerns for now.** " He smiled as the barbarians ran off elsewhere at full speed and Buff Frog dragged Star and Marco into the crystal prison which had unlocked for some reason. " **The name by the way is Alucard just to let you know, second child of Mewman and Monster.** " He reached onto his sword and pulled out the red gem from the hilt throwing the black blade to the side and bowing to Star dramatically. " **Until we meet again.** " As Buff Frog closed the door to the crystal prison the wand exploded.

A bright flash of light a faint whoop of force lasted for only a split second with a layer of black covering the surface of the crystal hideout they were in. After a few more seconds of silence Buff Frog tentatively pushed open the door and looked around beckoning to Star and Marco. Star heaved Marco up onto his feet with an arm around her for support and stepped outside to take in the damage. Where there was once a hideout was only a crater now with bits of ash and smoke floating about like mist and dead leaves. Star ventured a look to where she had destroyed the wand seeing the now colorless haft of the wand sitting partially covered by the ash. Star looked around lost and disoriented by what had just happened until she locked eyes with Marco whose eyes were glazed with pain at his current transformation. Star pulled Marco in close for a comforting hug with Buff Frog joining in as she spoke softly and sadly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you Marco." As they did this another voice called out in question.

"Is it gone?" The trio turned to see Selene stepping out of the wreckage who got her answer from their eyes. "No… no…" Dumnorix pushed out followed by the other Forest Barbarians who had lost expressions as well. "Mavis is gone, Lord Mildrew is gone, the wand is gone… my mother is gone." Dumnorix came up next to her and spoke softly.

"We will find your mother, it just may take awhi-"

"SHUTUP!" Everyone backed away from Selene as she turned on Dumnorix. "The only way I could track my mother down is gone as is the only one who would wield it for me! Don't you get it… we've lost; we're nothing!" Selene turned and ran from the group out of the wreckage area into the Forest of Certain Death as the barbarians watched her go; until they turned towards Star with angry eyes.

"You… will not live to see the next sunrise!" Dumnorix went to charge them with the warriors at his back until a flash of energy struck at one of the warriors ensnaring them in some sort of magical electrical vines. "GUARDIANS! Scatter!" The warriors immediately scattered in all directions as more of those vines struck down ensnaring several more with one trying to ensnare Dumnorix but he just tore right through it and kept on running.

As they dispersed several female figures wearing light plate armor and wielding what looked like their own magic wands began storming the area attempting to cut off escape for the barbarians. Some who were cornered tried to engage them but the Guardians easily beat them off and ensnared them with more vines. In particular was a Mewman who had green eyes and hair a similar color who seemed like the one in charge giving out orders to round people up. As they were doing this Buff Frog and Star began calling out to people who didn't seem to hear them at first until a familiar screech was heard by Star. She looked up to see red and black feathered hawk and silvery black spotted leopard aspects of BuckBeak swoop in depositing two more Guardians before turning to Star.

"*Always getting into trouble I see; can't you exercise a little-*" Star cut off BuckBeak and yelled at him.

"Please help!" BuckBeak looked at Star in confusion until he noticed something was wrong with Marco. He leaned in close sniffing closely and backed away in revulsion shaking his head to clear the scent from his nostrils.

"*What in all of Nash Dom…*" He immediately turned and gave an ear piercing hawk cry that got everyone's attention with Buff Frog immediately following him up.

"MEDIC!" At this the leader of the group immediately rushed over letting her subordinates handle the captures.

"What happened?" She asked with Star responding with tears in her eyes.

"H-he's changing into something else. I don't know how to stop it and my wand was just destroyed and…" The leader immediately took charge taking Marco from Star and using her wand to 'scan' the infected area on Marco. "Please help him." The leader looked at Star and nodded turning to Buckbeak.

"Get this boy back to Castle Butterfly immediately; I will contact Moon and Oogway and get them to your location." BuckBeak nodded and scooped up Marco immediately flying off for the castle with Star staring after them.

"Don't go Marco… please don't go…" Star stared after them with Buff Frog turning to the leader grasping her in a bear hug sighing sadly with her returning it.

"Lily Forest, what took you so long?" Lily pulled away and shrugged speaking in a calm tone.

"Do you know how difficult these forests are to traverse. If it wasn't for the Gryphon helping us out we would have taken far lon…" Lily was cut off by a voice speaking to them in Italian from below.

"*Pardon me*" The two backed off looking in confusion at a horse that appeared to be wearing a black tank top and carrying a lunchbox. "*When I was a baby horse, mama told me the day would come when I would be called upon to fulfill a responsibility greater then myself." He pulled his mane back into a ponytail and opened the lunchbox pulling out a horn which he attached to his forehead. "*A fate which decides the very well being of the cosmos; that day is today.*" He then walked over to the now dead wand and opened the crystal on it like a lid and stepped inside of it.

A rumbling echoed across the whole area getting everyone's attention as the wand sunk into the ground. As they all looked in the area crystals began springing up from around in a sort of encircling forest of sorts with one in particular rising up where the wand had sunk into the ground. Buff Frog and Lily got Star's attention who looked up to see the crystal and blinked in shock as it opened like a door revealing her wand. However, it had changed; the haft was now a red so dark it was nearly black with dark green leather grips going around it. The orb that held the jewel was now a swirl of lilac and rose with blends of the colors and the gem itself now a darker pink with half of it seemingly gone placed on an Indigo background with a silver crown resting on the end. The white bat's wings and black bird's wings were gone to be replaced by a larger pair of dark grey wings; one a dragon's with pink tints and one a swans with green tints. Star held out her hands by reflex catching the wand looking at it softly.

"New upgrade." She blinked and looked up to Lily and Buff Frog. "Can I go home now; I want to see Marco."

* * *

Rhombulus was looking up from his cards with shifty eyes as he tried to discern the motives of his opponent. Across the table from him sat a humanoid goat with bats wings and wearing a brown robe looking at his cards calmly glancing up at Rhombulus. Rhombulus distracted his gaze by looking around at the various entities he had frozen in crystal over his long lifetime feeling a sense of accomplishment. Of course it was immediately soured by that fact that many of these people might not have deserved it and he trusted his gut a little too much. He shook his head a little as the goat baaaed at him.

"*Are you in or out my friend, there is not middle road here?*" Rhombulus sighed and spoke.

"I'm in Lekmet; whether I want to be or not." Lekmet baaed and showed his cards making Rhombulus slam his cards down in frustration. "Not again!" Lekmet baaed in a type of laugh until a sudden sound of cracking interrupted them.

"*What was that?*"

"Not sure." When the cracking sounded again Rhombulus leapt up and ran in the direction of the sound with Lekmet flying right behind him. "If it is that gigantic eye looking for his ring again I swear…" He rounded a corner leading to a special chamber reserved for a particularly special entity.

"*Oh gods… it's her. We need to reapply the crystal…*"

"No." Lekmet looked up in confusion as Rhombulus spoke. "Contact Moon, I think she wants to talk to this one." Lekmet nodded in concern and walked away. "After all these years, the promise you and Moon made is complete. Time to see if you are really as bad as everyone says you are." As if to punctuate his words the crack over the crystal widened even further.


	49. Storm The Castle Pt 4

Star sat just outside of the castle's private hospital fidgeting nervously as she held onto her new wand with one hand and rubbed her tail with another. An electrical shock and muffled scream came from inside the hospital making Star wince and let out a silent sob as she could only imagine what Marco had been going through for the last few hours. A soft whine came from next to Star as BuckBeak leaned down next to her preening her hair slightly trying to put her at ease. The fact that Buckbeak had entered the castle and waited for Star after dropping Marco off despite how much he hated indoor spaces was a sign of how worried he was for Marco. She knew that the two had not known each other very well but Buckbeak seemed to sense how much Marco meant to Star as he tried comforting her. As he did this a soft meow came from below making Star look down to see a familiar blue cat with a snake tail and Oni face bat at her feet. Star sniffed and scooped up Nacho holding him like a stuffed animal sobbing silently into his side before a question entered her mind.

"Wait, how did you get here?"

"Oh we brought him here." Star looked up again to see Angie and Raphael come up to Star with Raphael speaking. "Sorry we took so long to get here as the castle is just so…" He didn't finish as Star began sobbing and started spluttering holding a shocked Nacho tightly.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen-"

"Shhh shh shh." Angie rubbed Star's hair calming Star down as best she could with Buckbeak and Raphael moving in close. "You're not at fault for this Star. In fact I don't even think you really did anything wrong as far as I can tell." A whimper came from the care room making everyone wince. "So he's been in there all night?" Star nodded with tears still rolling down her face at what was happening and spoke softly.

"Yes. *sniff* I just want Marco to be ok." They sat there embracing each other for a period of time until they suddenly heard the door to the infirmary open. Standing in the doorway was a humanoid tortoise who had a soft perpetual smile on his face that gave the impression he was everyone's grandfather speaking up in an aged and wise voice.

"We are finished my child, and Marco is well." He barely finished his sentence when Star wriggled out of everyone's embrace dropping Nacho with a yelp and slipped by the tortoise into the room.

Inside it looked like a typical hospital operating room from the late 1800's looking almost painfully clean and white. Willow and Moon were in the room wearing nurses clothing with their hair tied back into buns looking exhausted after using a lot of magic on the surgery, now trying to help Marco sit up. He appeared gray faced and exhausted from his ordeal but the minute he saw Star he smiled and spoke softly.

"Star… yo…" Star slipped across the room instantly and grabbed onto Marco sobbing loudly as she held him close.

"MArcO *sob* yOU're aLIvE!" Everyone else around them just stood there watching the two friends reunite with smiles on their faces as Marco spoke in a weak voice.

"Star… why did you sacrifice your wand for me?" Star blinked in confusion as Marco continued. "I'm not worth it especially after what I said to you earlier and how I've taken advantage of you in the past to keep up a failed relationship with Jackie." As people murmured to each other in confusion over this Star held him tightly and spoke to him.

"Marco, that stuff doesn't matter to me; you are one of the best people who has ever come into my life. *sniff* You protected me, guided me, comforted me, even acted as my therapist. *sniff*I don't know what I would do without you now." ***Throb throb*** Star felt her heart beat heavily at holding Marco close and smelling his distinct scent while rubbing his fluffy black hair. As the two reconnected Willow and the tortoise shot each other looks that said 'they are so cute' as Moon spoke up.

"Well, if you wish to thank anyone for this it would have to be Archdruid Oogway over here. No one is as good at non-magical healing as he is." The two looked up seeing Moon pointing to the tortoise who spoke up with a chuckle.

"Please just me Oogway my children. Now I must leave unfortunately as there is a dragon lost in literal and metaphorical woods that needs my guidance. Buckbeak, I know I am asking a lot…" Buckbeak just chittered in a laugh and squawked to Oogway.

"*No problem, I'll take you where you're needed. Besides I wish to get out from under these 'ceilings' that are everywhere.*" The two left with Angie and Raphael coming in close hugging their son with Star getting out of the way.

"Hijo… you are ok." Raphael seemed to be at a loss of words as he hugged his son close with Angie speaking up as well.

"We should have stepped in sooner and contacted Moon given how you fought with these people in the backyard so frequently. We're sorry for not doing something sooner." Marco chuckled weakly and hugged them as best he could before speaking.

"No, it was my fault for getting involved in this. Although with these guys gone we won't be worrying about them anymore. Say, who were the ones that swooped in and dealt with those guys?" Marco looked up to Moon with his parents doing the same as Moon replied.

"They are the 'Guardians of Mewni' an elite magical fighting force that police that kingdom of Mewni and protect against any internal threats. We were lucky a patrol was in the local area when your parents contacted me about what had happened or you probably would have been dead by now." Marco nodded dully as his parents continued to hold him close with Star speaking up.

"Wait, how did you guys get in contact with my parents?" Angie spoke up to this.

"Well I went to call them on my phone but the call was being blocked for some reason so I had to use your mirror…"

* * *

"… call Queen Moon Butterfly!" Angie spoke desperately as the call processed before it answered.

"Call is being blocked by recipient."

"Maldito infierno the last five ways to call were blocked, how are we going to reach them?!" Raphael swore in Spanish as he sat down in frustration with Angie thinking a mile a minute.

"Wait… mirror mirror on the wall, call mom."

"Calling mom." Raphael looked up eagerly and spoke up.

"Wait, that simple?" Angie shrugged and replied.

"Moon would never block her daughter like we would never block Marco. Now what is so important that they had to block…" Angie never finished her sentence however when a scene was finally revealed on the mirror.

Moon was dressed up in a very skimpy costume with a bit of what looked like a stereotypical princess garb being taken off as she pole danced seductively. Sitting on what appeared to be a throne made out of bones and skulls sat Toffee who was dressed up in some type of armor meant to exaggerate his muscular image rather than provide protection. Some faint and slow music was playing in the background adding atmosphere to the scene that Angie and Raphael were witnessing. As they watched Moon flung off the last of the princess garb and twirled around the pole facing the opposite direction of Toffee. She then bent backwards so she could look at Toffee softly biting her lower lip and spoke to him in a winded if eager manner with fake fear in her voice showing she was acting.

"Onko tämä hyvä herrani? ( _Is this good for my lord_ )" Toffee smiled and licked his lips in comically exaggerated lust and spoke commandingly in an exaggerated reptilian tone to Moon.

"Itse asiassa se on, mutta tarvitsen enemmän sinua prinsessa. ( _In fact it is, but I need more from you princess_ )" He made to get up but then stopped his acting and looked around in confusion. "Onko sinulla koskaan tunne, että joku seuraa jokaista liikettäsi? ( _Do you ever feel someone follows your every move?)"_ Moon immediately stood up looking around a second before eyes fell on the mirror and on Angie and Raphael's somewhat shocked faces with Angie speaking.

"Ummmm, can we talk to you in a way we can understand you?" Toffee looked over at the voice and double took at this speaking to Moon.

"Luulin, että peitit peiliä? ( _I thought you covered the mirror_ )" Moon snapped her fingers with a bluish glow settling over her and Toffee with Moon replying.

"I didn't think it was necessary as I blocked everything." Raphael spoke up.

"Um, apparently not your daughter's mirror." The two both blushed at that with Moon looking down embarrassed and speaking.

"Oh yeah I never block Star's calls. Well at least Star didn't see that. So what did you two call us about that was so important you had to use our daughter's mirror?" Angie spoke up again overcoming her shock at what she had just been shown.

"About that, our son has just been kidnapped and your daughter has gone after him alone." The duo stared at Angie for a second before replying in unison.

"What?!"

* * *

"… fortunately Moon was able to locate Star with magic, scrying she called it, so they could swoop in to rescue you two." Moon was blushing a brilliant crimson at this with Marco and Star having deadpan disgusted looks on their faces. "What?" Marco spoke in a weak tone of voice.

"TMI mom... TMI!" Willow chuckled at this and turned towards Moon speaking to her in a jabbing fashion with a smirk on her face.

"It seems like the 'spark' between you two has only gotten stronger as time has passed." Moon hid her face blushing even deeper as she replied sarcastically.

"Yes mother, nice to see you are pleased about this. Now then to change the subject…" Moon righted herself as much as possible and turned towards Star. "… why didn't you tell me that you two were being attacked by my cousin Mavis and Lord Mildrew of all people." Star got nervous again and held her tail close to her and she answered shakily.

"It didn't seem like a big deal at the time and I was afraid you would take me away from earth." Everyone stared at Star in confusion. "I didn't want to leave earth; almost everyone treated me so nicely despite the fact I'm…" Star paused and glanced at her tail making everyone give sympathetic looks at what she was implying. "Also Marco is just one of the best people I have ever met and I want to stay with him for at least a little longer." Star looked at Moon with big sad eyes. "Please don't take me away, I just got Marco back." Moon stared at her daughter sympathetically before she started chuckling and answered.

"My dearest little MonStar." Moon kneeled down and hugged Star tight. "You did exactly what I would have done at your age to be completely honest. Alright my dear; now that the threat is contained you may remain on earth but only if you tell me about any threats that come in the future, got it?" Star nodded and hugged her mother back.

"Got it mom." At this Marco fell back onto the operating table with what little color draining from his face making Willow speak up.

"Say perhaps we should all give Marco some rest, he's been through a lot after all." Everyone nodded and got up to leave with Moon using a spell 'Levitato' to raise Marco up floating in the air before speaking.

"I will take him to a proper area to rest up, the rest of you get some rest yourselves." Everyone nodded and split with Moon taking Marco to a bedroom for him to properly rest. "My daughter does think very highly of you, I could tell that before this evening with how she goes on about you. What do you think of her?" Marco sighed at the strange sensation of floating through the air and replied.

"She is an amazing person, one of the most… actually the most amazing I know of. She is easily my best friend despite only knowing each other for several months." Moon chuckled at this before Marco got a dark look on his face. "Is it true… what happened once you ascended as queen after the war of Moonlight Shadow?" Moon froze midstep at this and looked at Marco who gave her an exhausted and saddened look making Moon sigh. In that instant Marco saw Moon instantly age several decades as she replied in a somber tone.

"Generations of pent up hatred and frustrations were not going to just go away like nothing had ever happened. When I became queen the commoners and Monsters saw the other nobility as the ones who had upheld the Shadow Clause through thick and thin and took everything out on them. When I tried to make them see reason the few I did manage to approach turned on me claiming I was just pandering to them in order to get my crown. *sigh* I offered sanctuary in my castle for any noble willing to bend the knee to their rightful queen but the people got many before they arrived. And some didn't even bother thinking I had set the people on them to clear out my rivals and joined rebel groups revolting against me. The winter was called the 'red winter' for all the blood on multiple sides spilled because of the pent up tensions suddenly being released. I tried offering peace in the spring when all had calmed down and mostly succeeded but some viewed my offer of pardon as a blow to their pride like they had been doing something wrong the whole time. Since then lynch mobs going after Monsters, revolts by traditionally minded Mewmans, and people joining the Forest Barbarians are almost routine in parts of Mewni; and I am near powerless to stop it because the people who still fight don't want to negotiate with a 'Monster whore' as they call me behind my back." Marco blinked in shock as he registered this story feeling strangely better if more saddened at hearing Moon's side of the story.

"So is it true about River and his parents too." Moon sighed and chuckled bitterly.

"River wanted to lead the assault to see if he could talk his parents down but his father attacked him calling him a traitor to his people. His mother fell into despair over what had happened and River has been taking care of her ever since." Marco blinked taking in these events as Moon continued. "I guess you've heard everything from the other side's view as well and I am not sure if this makes anything better or worse for you." Marco sighed and spoke with a slight smile.

"It actually makes things better hearing both sides of the story and knowing you are at least trying to do everything right." Moon smiled sadly at him and leaned over to kiss his cheek speaking softly.

"I can see why my daughter is so fond of you." Marco blushed slightly upon hearing that as Moon finally arrived at his room and floated him in. "Please do rest and don't worry about your school as Lancer will know about everything directly from me." Marco nodded yawning as Moon tucked him in and left smiling at his cute face thought to herself 'I have a feeling Star views you as more then 'just friends' my boy.' As Moon closed the door she saw Toffee coming up with a serious look on his face and Star's wand on a pillow. "Oh boy now what, I just got out of intensive surgery?" Toffee simply looked her straight in the eye and spoke.

"Anything seem odd about this wand?" Moon looked down at it and Toffee pointed out the black part where half of the star seemed to be missing. "I need you to pick it up for confirmation." Moon sighed in annoyance and picked it up having the wand change back to her format… with half of the heart crystal on top missing.

"Oh that's not good." Moon immediately took off letting her hair down and stripping off her outer clothing leaving behind a pale blue t-shirt and black pants with Toffee close behind her.

Running through the castle quickly they got to the queen's small council chamber where there were two other figures sitting there illuminated by the red light of dawn streaming in through the window. One was a pale skinned yellow eyed woman with red hair and yellow horns forming a semicircle wearing a large formal yellow dress and another being what looked like a deer skull with a pair of antlers made out of swords and purple mist behind it looking out of a mobile crystal ball. They both looked up as if ready to start the day but the looks on their faces turned worried the minute they saw Moon's wand again. Moon answered them preemptively.

"Yes Heckapoo and Omnitraxus, I am afraid this has happened." They looked at each other in worry as Moon went to the rooms mirror and called. "Call Glossarick." After a minute of tense silence overlaid with elevator music Glossarick finally answered the mirror wearing a towel and shaving his legs. "Glossarick, we have a situation." Glossarick chuckled and spoke in an annoyed tone.

"I have no doubt you do if you've resorted to calling me while I'm trimming the hedges. Hmmm, seems like something is up with the wand considering you have it back from Star am I right?" Mon sighed and nodded at him explaining.

"There was a situation where Star had no choice but to destroy the wand and now we have the theory that it may have been cleaved." At this Glossarick perked up taking interest in this throwing his razor to the side speaking up.

"Hmmm, an interesting word cleave as it can mean multiple things. You can 'cleave something apart like if I were to do this…" He pulled his arms apart letting the towel fall down. "… I have cleaved the towel from myself." Heckapoo, Moon, and Omnitraxus covered their eyes groaning in disgust while Toffee stared at him in his monotone expression. "And if I were to do this…" Glossarick then wrapped the towel back around him. "… I have cleaved the towel back in with myself." Heckapoo spoke up at this her voice tinted with disgust.

"Did you really need to provide a physical example for this?" Glossarick shrugged nonchalantly and spoke up again.

"It just helps to illustrate my point. I do hope you have collected all the pieces of the wand." He raised his eyebrow at the group with Toffee speaking up.

"The Guardians are searching the area now, including the area within 10 miles as the explosion could have knocked it far away." Glossarick sighed as if bored with the conversation now and spoke up a final time.

"I should hope so; I need to finish this so if you need me you know where I am." He then hung up with Toffee b=glancing over to Moon and speaking up.

"I still have trouble believing he is the most powerful magical entity in the cosmos." Moon nodded and replied.

"Same here." They were brought out of their reverie by a knock on the door. "Come in." Rhombulus opened the door peaking in anxiously.

"Sorry for bringing her like this your majesty but you didn't pick up my call." At this everyone looked at Rhombulus in confusion with Moon speaking again with an annoyed sigh.

"I've had a very busy evening and night so it's ok that… wait what do you mean by her?" Rhombulus then stepped aside opening up the door fully.

Right behind him was a porcelain doll of a woman of short stature with dark green hair, nearly grey lavender eyes, and dark red spade marks on her cheeks like Moon's diamonds. She was wearing a purplish-black dress with a white bib in the front bearing a crescent moon on it and a large black sun hat with a branch and some white feathers attached to it with a pair of lavender gloves to top it all off. She had this soft knowing smile on her face as she gazed around the room with her eyes falling onto Moon and getting an even bigger smile speaking up with a cheery British accent.

"You must be Moon, how much time has passed since we last saw each other?" Moon to the shock of everyone smiled right back and walked towards her.

"20 more years it seems my dear. Nice to see you didn't start acting evil the minute you got out." The woman chuckled and embraced Moon who hugged her back with everyone staring on in confusion or shock.

"Well that madness I had gotten has been quite cleaned up thanks to your deal with me; so no evil 'queen of darkness' as everyone would put it." She giggled and looked around with her eyes falling on Toffee. "Is that your Monster lover by any chance?" Moon chuckled and walked up next to Toffee hugging him with Toffee hugging her back in confusion as Moon spoke.

"Well he is actually my husband now; we have come a long way in the past 20 years you know." At this Toffee finally spoke up looking at Moon in calm confusion.

"I must say, who is this person you seem so chummy with that I don't know of." Moon chuckled and stepped back doing a dramatic bow gesturing towards the woman speaking up.

"This is the woman who gave me the spell which helped me defeat Etheria and put down the Shadow Clause, although you would know her by a different title, Eclipsa Queen of Darkness and the first Monster Lover."

* * *

25 miles away from the ruins of the former Forest Barbarian hideout a 25 foot tall figure methodically walked across the land as if guided to a specific place. The figure was burly and shrouded in a black and tattered robe with what look like a forest of dead branches coming out of its head making the figure look even bigger. 2 amber beady eyes scanned the landscape from a face that looked a strange mixture of a frog and a human with pointed ears looking for something. Beneath the figure several green and gangly stooped figures walked on two legs or arms and legs snuffling around and barking at each other showing mouths filled with broken glass instead of teeth strangely complimenting their overly sized milky white eyes. The large figures eyes finally fell on what it wanted and it barked a quite order to the small figures who moved forward working quickly. In front of them an obsidian sword with a platinum hilt shaped like a dragon was stuck out of the ground which the large figure reached down and picked up handling it like a butter knife. Next to it a skeletonized forearm and hand gripped onto what looked like half a star that was embedded into the palm glowing a toxic green color. As the large figure watched the half star flashed in a manner similar to Morse code giving the message 'onto stage two'. The large figure smiled and chuckled as the small figures dug around in a haphazard pattern with one being sure to cover the wand in dirt so a mildly intense search would find nothing; unless if the wand glowed brightly. When the small figures were done they bowed to the large figure who motioned for them to follow and walked away from the scene swiftly to avoid detection leaving the half star buried and waiting.

 **The Croods- Dun Dun Dun watch?v=5JSCbEKsguQ**

 **In case if any of you were wondering where I got the language 'Mewman' from I just typed the words into google translate and had them translated to Finnish. Sorry to anyone from Finland whose language I likely butchered here.**

 **Next up, Star figures things out with her 'New Wand'.**


	50. Intermission 2

**WH: ... so that is why I don't like pretty pink ponies.**

 **SN: Makes sense honestly, that sterotype is really bad for pony kin...**

 **Omnitraxus: *pops out of a door and goes to bar it.* Quick, help me bar the door!**

 **WH: Well, that was ran... wait isn't that the door leading to the room where messages and comments are stored?**

 **OM: Yes, and your request for help on what to do with the story has overwhelmed it!**

 **WH: Well guess I'm gonna have to address it. Open the flood gates!**

 **OM: *looks at me in fear* That's not a good idea. *shivers under my stern eye***

 **WH: I need to address the people sooner or later man, let it go. *Omnitaxus looks like he's going to refuse before the shear weight of the comments forces the door open and they come surging in like a wave* Oh that's not good. *The wave crashes down causing the three of s to be tossed about like dice until we surface from a slowly going pool of comments.***

 **SN: You probably should not have listened to him Omni.**

 **WH: Well to be fair he didn't actually do anything this time it was actually inevitable. Now then, what are the compositions of said comments?**

 **SN: Well it appears to be... half and half. Split down the middle of 'you should make a gigantic story' and 'split it up be season' so to speak.**

 **OM: But he's not splitting it up by season, the only one that is like the actual show as a season was supposed to be the first part.**

 **WH: Not exactly, the basic guidelines are still there despite my changes to the story at this point and planned out.**

 **SN: Part of the problem may be that you divide the episodes into multiple parts constantly making it seem needlessly long.**

 **WH: I'm just publishing as fast as I can write it, my quality of work is good but its the speed of publishing that everyone likes so much.**

 **OM: Well how many more episodes do you have planned out?**

 **WH: At most... 42. And not chapters but episodes. *The two stare at me in shock for a second.* If I just keep going as is we could have a story 150+ chapters long, I need to do something.**

 **OM: Well guess it's up to you again what happens now.**

 **SN: Why not just consolidate chapters as time goes by to make them more compact instead of jsut leaving them as multiple parts all the time.**

 **WH: *sigh* Man this is prob... wait what? Consolidate the chapters? *SN nods as I get a stupid grin on my face scaring the two* Fucking GENIUS! As I write them they will remain in parts but once I am done I will consolidate them and consolidate the earlier chapters. Yes the large ones will have to remain in parts due to shear size and the comments to chapters will get a little confusing but this is EXCELLENT common ground. (Please note people, you may get confusing messages on when a chapter is posted thinking that the chapter was already posted, but it was not.) Time to get sta- why are you staring at the ceiling?**

 **SN: Um Hippie. *Points up worryingly to the ceiling which is now moving in fast due to the comments and Personal messages making us rise... with it being covered with long spikes.***

 **WH: I knew I never should have installed those decorative spikes.**


	51. New Wand Pt 1

**OP: Um hippie, you need to work on your story... hippie? *Looks around in concern before entering the room to see me in front of the computer playing something with depressing music in the background and the room artificially cold.* Um... you ok?**

 **WH: *turns towards Omnitraxus Prime with a haggard look on my face* We need more coal to keep the furnace running or we will all freeze to death, and we need more hothouses and hunters or we will starve to death! *OP looks at me concerned as I shake myself off and speak normally* Sorry, got really caught up in this new game called 'FrostPunk' what od you wan- THE STORY! *Leaps up and runs past OP speaking to him in passing.* Thank you for reminding me, I'll GET IT UP! *OP looks at me go with a look of worry in his eyes as he shakes his head and wonders off***

 **OP: I like this boy, but I worry about him all the time.**

"Helloooooo Internet people. Star Butterfly here just reporting in on recent happenings." The video show comes to life a bit blurry and disoriented as the laptop camera focused in on the speaker which so happened to be Star Butterfly. "A lot of things have happened in recent days with my crazy and evil aunt Mavis trying to steal my wand by kidnapping Marco." The camera pulled back to Reveal Star was sitting on the bathroom counter with steam in the air as someone was showering in the back ground. "Twist is she wasn't the one behind it and instead a person who my parents fought against in the past was the one behind it. Twist is however he might not have been the one in charge and instead this… Monster body possessor of sorts might have been in charge. He kind of forced me to destroy m wand to keep Marco safe even though he didn't do anything once I had destroyed it. That guy was a douche by the way, bleh. Twist is however the destroyed wand destroyed him, I think, and it came back to life and now I have…" Star reached into a drawer in the counter and pulled out a hair brush. "… my new wa…" She blinked in confusion and put it back to pull out a hand mirror. "…my new wan…" Star blinked in annoyance and put it to the side and pulled out a beard trimmer. "… my ne… ok Marco do you know where my wand got off to? It was in this drawer." Star turned the laptop around to show Marco has stepped out of shower with a towel around his waist and his hair wrapped up in a towel. He looked at the camera and panicked running towards it.

"Staaaaar!" He closed the lid cutting off the connection to everyone.

A 9 year old Japanese girl with long black hair and wearing an oversized green sweatshirt giggled at the events that had happened and hug her rainbow monkey close to her saying "That was funny huh Mr. snuggaflix?". Elsewhere an 11 year old white haired boy wearing an orange t-shirt looked at the screen in confusion and sighed slumping back knowing he was getting nothing more today. Elsewhere a 12 year old girl with long brown hair, braces, and wearing a pink sweater with a shooting star having a rainbow behind said "Awwwww, he looked cute with his little mole… and those abs." Elsewhere again Starfan13 looked at her screen in confusion and tapped on the keyboard a few times to be sure she wasn't the one who was at fault for the lost connection.

"Star don't film me in the bathroom, in fact what are you even doing in here." Marco spoke covering up his chest feeling embarrassed around Star as Star chuckled and responded.

"Oh come on nothing 'bad' was seen right? You gotta take more confidence in your body as you're actually pretty hot." Start stopped when she realized what she had said and blushed slightly speaking up again really fast. "Anyways, do you know where my wand is? It was here a minute ago." Marco blinked at Star's words and feeling… strangely embarrassed; not more or less than usual but for a different reason. He stuttered a second before responding.

"No I know better than to touch your wand except for that one time at St. Olga's. Could you let me change before I help you out in finding…" At that moment the wand shot out of a nearby drawer and flew out of the bathroom on its own nearly striking Marco in the face. "… I almost died… but I found it." Marco pointed after it as Star leapt up running after it with Marco joining in with Star calling out.

"It's never done that before, the whole flying around the area like a possessed stick." They stopped outside of Star's room unsure of where it went looking around a second until it flew out of Marco's room with Nacho and the three laser puppies behind it trying to catch it with great interest. "Get it Marco!" Star leapt up trying to catch it but it avoided her grasp almost expertly only to slam Marco straight in the gut taking him along with it. "Marco! I'll save you!" Star leapt after Marco but his towel had flown off landing over her head. "GAHHHH, Marco's naked!" As Marco flew into the room followed by a disoriented and covered Star with magical animals in tow Star's magic book flew out from under her bed towards Star.

"Star look out!" Star pulled the towel off of her head only to be slammed by the book knocking her head band off in a shower or sparks and knocking her down. Nacho leapt at the book gripping onto it but it flew carrying him along slamming into Marco as well slamming them into a closet with the door closing behind them. After getting up from his ordeal and orienting himself Marco heard scrabbling as someone tried getting up from outside. "Star, are you ok?"

"Mitä tapahtui, minun täytyi todella parantua. (What happened, I actually had to heal back there.)" Marco blinked in confusion as he realized Star was speaking in her native language now. "Odota, oletko kaapissa? Älä huoli Marco, minä pääsen sinut ulos. (Wait, are you in the closet? Don't worry Marco, I'll get you out!)" Marco immediately realized Star was going for the door and realized he was still naked.

"No Star, I'm not decent." Marco scrabbled for any clothing he could find wrapping himself up in random bits of cloth as Star scrabbled at the door growling in frustration.

"Grrrr, tämä ovi ei ajaudu. (Grrrr, this door won't budge.)" Marco finished pulling random bits of cloth over himself turning to the door in confusion speaking up.

"Um Star, can you understand me?" The scrabbling stopped with Star speaking up after a brief pause.

"Marco ... miksi kuulet hiipivasta puupölyltä. (Marco... why do you sound like a chattering treehopper.)" Star then realized what was up when her hair fell into her face a little. "Odota, pääkaartaani! (Wait, my headband!)" On the other side of the door Star scrabbled over to her headband only to find it a blackened color like it had been burned in a fire. "Älä viitsi! (Oh come on!)" 'Ok Star, you can do this; you've been training in the background for months.' Star thought to herself inhaling and exhaling focusing on her mouth and spoke slowly in a thick accent. "Marco… devil band hurt." Star mentally slapped herself over how stupid she probably sounded to Marco who replied to her equally slowly.

"Do not worry, can you understand me?" Star perked up at the fact that at least when he spoke slowly she could understand him fairly well and spoke.

"Yes, but speak slow." Marco sighed in relief that Star's language learning had been paying off and slapped himself mentally for not trying harder with learning Star's language.

"Can you open the door?" Star moved over to the door scrabbling at the door knob and pulled at it. "Try the handle?" Star grunted in effort as she replied.

"Handle not coming, it stuck." As Star pulled it Glossarick pushed himself through the key hole from inside the closet and floated next to Star watching her struggle for a second before speaking up.

"What are you doing?" Star yelped and leapt back pulling off the door knob in the process and falling flat across the floor speaking up in Mewman.

"*Glossarcik?! I'm trying to get Marco and my wand out of the closet.*"

"Did you try the knob?" Star held up the detached door knob with a raised eyebrow before replying.

"*What do you think?*" Glossarick rubbed his chin in thought as Star got a random weapon from her collection and whacked at the door making the whole wall shake. "*Come on you stupid door, how hard is it to open you?*" Marco called out from inside the closet after recovering from the aftershocks.

"Um, is Glossarick out there Star because I think I hear him? Is there anything I can do?" Star blinked in confusion as if trying to figure out what Marco said exactly and Glossarick spoke up.

"Marco is asking after me Star, I'll be right back." He slipped back through the key hole with Star looking at the door in annoyance. "Say Marco, what is it?" Marco yelped at seeing Glossarick come in through the key hole and grabbed him pulling him through the keyhole.

"Is this some kind of training montage for Star or is there anything I can actually do to help her out here?" Glossarick got an annoyed look and rolled his eyes speaking up.

"Are they mutually exclusive Marco? Look if you want to help Star I'll give you a hint on what to do." Marco nodded in acceptance and kept quiet as Glossarick got an intense look in his eyes and stared Marco down with the light changing around him. "To reach the chunks of the hobo stew, find the secrets Star conceals from you." Everything went back to normal with Glossarick waving to Marco as he slipped out of his hand and went back through the key hole. "Good luck." Marco groaned in annoyance and turned towards the closet interior and sighed in acceptance.

"Well, time to see if there are any secrets in here that can help Star reach those… chunks I suppose." Marco pulled some of the cloth over his lower face and forehead and started into the interior only to be stopped by Nacho who was batting at the book of spells in concern. "Look Nacho, we don't have time to worry about the wand yet we just need to get out of here. We have a lot of stuff to go through so help me look." Marco walked away with Nacho casting the book a suspicious look before accompanying Marco.

Glossarick came out of the closet keyhole again to see Star trying to pry the door open with a sword now and not having any luck. Glossarick sat in mid-air and watched her smiling slightly as she pried so hard the sword actually permanently bent with Star looking at it in shock. Throwing it to the side she looked at Glossarick and spoke up with annoyance.

"Um could you help me out here Glossarick I can't get the door open." Glossarick rolled his eyes and replied.

"Tell me something I don't know. Well how do you normally get it open?"

"With my wand but I don't have it right now so I can't do magic." Glossarick rubbed his chin again and smiled at Star.

"Oh, you want to do the hard way then." Star blinked and just stood there for a second staring at Glossarick as he continued. "I get the feeling you don't know what I'm talking about so I will help you but it's going to get really challenging." Star turned towards Glossarick with a slightly carnivorous smile and spoke softly to him.

"This is nothing, teach me Glossarick." Glossarick chuckled and grabbed his eye forcing it as open as it could go.

"Ok then, the lesson begins inside my EYEBALL." Suddenly the world blurred around Star and she found herself standing atop a small platform surrounded by purple gem stones of sorts with a sparkly purple background everywhere. "Might wanna pay attention to this Star, no need to go off in lala land." Star shook her head getting oriented and found herself actually sitting on a log in front of a blue campfire with a gigantic pot of stew bubbling and boiling over it. "Imagine this universe is this big old cauldron of hobo stew with magic being the stew inside with your wand being the spoon." Star nodded at this with Glossarick actually looking a little shocked. "Wait, you just got that no questions asked?" Star shrugged and replied nonchalantly.

"I get metaphors, Marco has been teaching me quite a bit. What you think I would have kicked up my feet at the fact you were using a spoon instead of a wand, that's just stupid?" Glossarick blinked in shock and smiled chuckling before looking down at the stew and replying.

"Anyways, the spoon can only skim so much of the surface stuff being watery and unfilling." He tossed the spoon away and looked back up at Star. "But if you want to get to the chunks and the real 'meat' of magic…" He pushed his hands into the stew reaching down into it. "… you have to dip dooooowwwwwwn." He pushed his hands out of the stew with his hands having grown massive and now holding meat, carrots, and even a random bone. "Get it?" Star looked at the food with some drool coming out of the corner of her mouth before shaking her head to clear it up and answered.

"*Ahem* So what you're saying it I can do something that can allow me to use magic… without my wand?" Glossarick nodded smiling looking really proud of Star. "How do I do that?" Glossarick sighed and the world fell away in a puff of smoke leaving them back in Star's room.

"Look to do that you just have to dip down. You know, dip dooowwwwn." Star blinked in confusion and replied.

"That's not helping Glossarick; how do I dip dooowwwnnnn." Star did the movement of pushing her hands into the stew like Glossarick did and pulling something up from it. "You're being really vague you know." Star turned away from Glossarick and picked up one of the laser puppies pointing it at the door. "I will get that thing open one way or another." She cocked the puppy and shot it's laser at the door in a solid beam with Glossarick yelling out.

"HOT LASER!" Star stopped realizing Glossarick had intervened and got a hole in his hand trying to stop Star.

"Sorry but perhaps you could be more helpful like a teacher is supposed to be." Glossarick sighed annoyance and spoke up again.

"You just have to dip dowwwnnnn for the chunks." He slid back through the keyhole into the closet leaving Star to contemplate in confusion.

"*sigh* Guess I'll do it your way Glossarick." Her stomach grumbled at that moment making Star aware she was really hungry all of a sudden. "Why is my metabolism like this, I'm gonna eat the Diaz's out of house and home at this rate. *sigh* Might as well address my hunger and see if I have any backup headbands so I can at least not risk miscommunication with Marco throughout this." Star got up and headed downstairs with the puppies right behind her.

* * *

Glossarick floated over to the magic book hearing a snapping sound occur somewhere in the piles of stuff inside the closet. He looked over with a raised eyebrow to see Marco standing up and pulling something that looked like a mousetrap off of his hand and throwing it to the side. Glossarick called out to the boy giving him a strange smile as he spoke.

"How's it going over there?" Marco looked up in annoyance and replied rubbing his hand softly.

"Well just trying to find 'The Secret' in a closet of SECRETS man."

"You know I'm doing this because I love you and Star right." Marco stared at him with a wierded out expression for a solid five seconds before replying.

"That's kind of weird when you say it for some reason." Glossarick gave a full on laugh scaring Marco slightly before responding.

"Yes, I suppose it is. Now then I have work to do on this wand." Glossarick opened up the book and slid into it leaving Marco standing there gaping slightly before he finally got his wits about him.

"Ok, what secrets do I need to find?" Marco pulled up a random small wooden box and opened it looking inside to see… something. Inside was what appeared to be a narwhal but looking like it had been put through a mutation blender with a twisted and deformed frame, sickly and pale skin, three horns over its body and 15 eyes also scattered as such.

"Every moment I live is agony." Marco dropped the box screaming like a pansy and kicked the box away making it yelp in fear before he spoke.

"No wonder Star doesn't want people going through her stuff; you could get nightmares doing so unless you succeed a sanity roll." He looked over the massive piles and sighed rubbing his hands together and cracking his neck slightly. "Well guess I have to fall back on my 'safety instincts'; time to get organized right Nacho? Nacho…" Marco turned to see Nacho had just finished eating the Narwhal he had just thrown away looking at Marco in confusion. "No nonononono you don't just eat things like tha…" Marco stopped when Nacho suddenly got slightly bigger for no reason, only noticeable because Marco watched him actually get bigger with a slight blue sparkle like static electricity. "… how?" Nacho stretched smiling slightly and padded on over to Marco rubbing up against his leg. "*sigh* Ok I can give you scritches but we need to find Star's secrets." Marco rubbed Nacho's head feeling a sharp jolt like static electricity run up his arm before he settled into a rhythm. 'I hope Glossarick is actually doing something worthwhile now.' Marco thought sarcastically as Nacho moved Marco's hand to his belly and purred baring his four Oni-like canines from his Oni like face.

* * *

Glossarick stood inside the book with the inside appearing far bigger than the outside staring at the wand in concern rubbing his bearded chin. Whistling quickly two bug-like creatures crawled up and under his feet moving him forward so he could take a closer look at the wand. Putting his hand and the haft he rubbed it softly feeling the distinct texture that was designed for a proper grip frowning in concern. After doing this along the whole haft he leaned down to it and began sniffing along it picking up a strange tint to the magic on this part of the wand frowning in confusion before speaking.

"That's odd, it smells familiar in several different ways that shouldn't be together." Glossarick rubbed his beard thinking on this as he moved to a different part of the wand.

 ***update alert: consolidation of chapters will be put on hold indefinitely due to the author's unjustified anxiety. We apologize for his cold feet.***


	52. New Wand Pt 2

Star sat in front of her closet staring at it annoyed as she munched on what the Diaz's had fondly called a 'bulk bar'. The three laser puppies were curled up around Star staring up at her and the door panting softly with extremely happy looks on their faces making Star smile slightly as she stared at the door. She sighed and leaned forward putting her head on a free hand as she began talking to the puppies.

"Ever dipped down Sajak? What about you Barco Diaz, or you Marco Jr.? Ever called upon power from 'within' as Glossarick seems to be referring too?" The puppies did not change their attitudes in the slightest as Star thought some more and spoke some more. "Didn't think so. Ever wonder why I have such a high metabolism that allows me to eat the food of up to 10 people a day? My parents claim it's because my healing abilities and powerful body requires a ton of fuel to power them but there has to more to it than that right?" Star took another bite and talked with her mouth full and motioned to a nearly empty 12x4x1.5 inch deep cooking sheet. "I mean one of those trays of mixed up peanut butter, oatmeal, and protein supplements are enough to provide enough calories, if not nutrients, for four people a day. But I go through a good 2 pans a day in addition to all the food they place in front of me during meals." Star gulped down her bite and sighed. "I mean, if my parents weren't providing food money to the Diaz's I'd be eating them out of house and home." Star giggled a second before continuing. "And what's more my appetite seemed to have taken off even further ever since I went through Mewberty; weird huh. I mean it's like I have this power called super hunger… wait a minute." Star stood up facing the door with renewed vigor. "Maybe to 'dip down' I need to call upon my hunger, like a scrawny lizard like version of Po from Kung Fu Panda." Star looked down at her skinny figure and both sighed and giggled at how scrawny she looked. "Well at least I don't have to worry about becoming overweight." Star turned towards the door and bared her teeth.

With her eyes going yellow cat pupiled and her hissing she leapt at the door biting it viciously feeling her teeth sink into the door. Surprised that her teeth were doing damage even though the door withstood a sword assault she dug in eagerly chewing at the wood. It didn't taste that good but Star funneled her hunger into it and gnawed as best she could leaving deep gouge marks. After a few minutes of this Star felt something shift in her mouth and come loose making her leap back in shock checking her mouth with her hands and tongue. After a few seconds of this she realized what was wrong and looked up to see two teeth stuck in the wood on the door that was chewed at like something in a horror movie had tried getting in it. She turned towards her room's mirror and ran up to it opening her mouth to see that two teeth had in fact fell out making her curse silently. She leaned up on a wall pissed off that she would be spending the next few days regrowing her teeth.

She didn't need to focus in order to heal as usually any injury she got that she ignored would heal completely on its own overnight. She wasn't certain on how long it would take to regrow things like lost limbs, and she wasn't going to experiment, but she was certain it would happen without her focusing. She remembered having lost a tooth due to a rough tumble down a hill and for some reason she couldn't force it to regrown. Because of this it had regrown on its own after three days' time making people guess that's how long something lost would take to regrow on its own. Of course, no matter what happened if she had to heal injuries he appetite would spike dramatically, probably due to the energy needed. She also never got why her dad didn't need to eat a lot of food like her; then again there were a lot of things people didn't know with her being half-Monster and all.

Shaking her head to clear it up she decided to look around her room for anything that might help her with unlocking the door. Unfortunately most of her stuff was in the closet aside from display weapons, an aquarium, her clothes, her 'makeup' desk that was converted to a homework and gaming computer desk, and her bed. 'Dang I need to get that door open if I want to have anything at all.' Star thought to herself in annoyance as she lay on her bed munching the last of her Bulk Bar thinking of what she needed to do. A thought did cross her mind however making her look under her bed finding mostly dust bunnies, she needed to clean down there, and a random box saying _Mewnian Termytes_ with a buzzing sound coming from it. Star smiled at that thinking 'I might not be able to eat the door, but I know they can' and got the box out slowly approaching the door. She carefully opened the box sending a swarm of bugs at the door eagerly waiting for them to start shewing only for them to slip through the slates in the door going inside the closet. After a second Marco began screaming from within.

"Ahhha, they're biting me!" Star leapt up nervously knowing she had nothing to help him out here as she spoke up in English.

"Sorry Marco." Star backed away from the door as Marco kept on yelling out.

"Stop eating my flesh."

Star looked around trying to figure out what to do as she had nothing now to go off of and Glossarick had disappeared. After a few seconds her eyes fell upon her wall mirror and she decided she needed help from her mom for this at this point. Sighing in exasperation Star walked on up to the mirror and called out to it.

"Mirror mirror on the wall, call mom."

" _Calling mom_." Star sighed relived it wouldn't call Tom by mistake ever again, she deleted his contact, and waited for Moon. When she showed up she was wearing a comfortable blue T-shirt and dark pants with her hair down and the spells covering her swirling tribalistic Monster tattoos undone; her informal 'I'm working but not doing meetings' outfit.

"Oh Star, what a pleasant surprise. What warrants this call… and where is your headband?" Moon smiled at Star with Star shifting around a little nervously before speaking.

"Well… my wand suddenly started acting up on its own and slammed Marco and the spell book into my closet which locked behind him and now I can't get them out." Moon raised her eyebrow chuckling slightly and spoke evenly.

"Did you try the knob?" Star held up the broken doorknob and growled slightly making Moon take a step back and nod reassuringly. "Alright alright I know you wouldn't have called unless if you had already tried that." Star started up again after Moon's interruption with a sigh.

"And now Glossarick says in order to get them out I have to 'Dip Down' to within myself and call upon magic somehow." At this Moon interrupted again in shock.

"Dip Down?! I didn't accomplish that without my wand until I was around 17!" As the impact of the words sunk in Moon's smile grew again and she spoke in a slightly overjoyed manner. "My little MonStar is so advanced in her magic studies already." Star blushed slightly and giggled at her mom's praise but got herself back on track.

"Well, the problem is Glossarick was being very vague and not helpful… I think on purpose." Moon sighed and flipped her hair a little in annoyance before speaking sarcastically.

"Well that sounds familiar. Look it's not going to be easy I can tell you that much but in order to dip down you need to find a way a call upon the power within. Something that will push you in a way like an adrenaline rush or calling upon reserves you didn't even know you had. I'm sorry but I can't help out any more because it's actually pretty hard to describe; do you get what I mean?" Star breathed in and out nodding softly. "Good, and good luck with dipping down my little prodigy, I love you." Moon blew Star a kiss as Star hung up sighing deeply and turning towards the closet door speaking to herself.

"Ok, let's see what I can do." Star sat down cross legged in front of the closet and began doing something Archdruid Oogway had taught her called 'loosening the spirit'; which felt oddly similar to an earth practice called meditation.

Star breathed in and out slowly trying to focus her thoughts and let her spirit flow trying to reach that feeling her mom described. She sat there for a little while trying to locate it and letting herself just flow with things but she got nothing for the longest period of time. Suddenly she felt something, something that was growing inside of her deep down that felt powerful. 'Is this it, am I dipping down already?' Star thought letting the feeling grow and build up ready to let it loose when it popped u… 'BUUUUURRRRRP' Star clapped her hand over her mouth at the massive belch she just made as a crashing sound came from inside of the closet.

* * *

Marco was looking through the items trying to get them organized into a potential secrets and not secret piles. He began by picking up a toaster which popped letting off several purple bubbles from inside making him shake his head and throw it into the not secret pile. He did the same for a picture of Tom, a hive of some sort of purple sparkling bugs, a stuffed bear with tentacles for arms and legs, and a chest full of weapons in various stages of disrepair. As he did so Nacho leapt back and forth through the piles of stuff picking up things on occasion and throwing them onto the no secrets pile. As Marco threw a random box onto the pile Nacho stopped and picked it up putting it on the secrets pile. Marco flashed Nacho a look which Nacho responded by giving him a look that said 'trust me man' and went back to sorting. Marco shrugged and threw a unicycle with spikes instead of a tire onto the pile. After a little while of this Marco looked up hearing a strange buzzing sound come from the other side of the door. As he stood there he saw a small swarm of bugs fly into the close through the slates in the door, and became alarmed when one attacked him.

"Ahhha, they're biting me!" Marco swatted at them as best he could but it seemed to only make them mad as he heard Star call form the other side of the door.

"Sorry Marco." Marco swatted away at the bugs as one latched onto him and bit in hard.

"Stop eating my flesh." He grabbed the bug that had gripped onto him and crushed it in his hand making the others just stop in midair staring at him. "Ummm… don't mess with me." Marco took a battle pose just as Nacho leapt up and snagged one from the air munching down on it making them scatter instantly. "Thanks Nacho, I didn't need the help but I always like it." At this Nacho grinned at him growing some more like he did with the Narwhal. "Hmmmm." Marco picked up Nacho and placed him in the 'potential secrets' pile with Nacho giving him a look of both being impressed and one of indignation. "Well you were created by Star's magic man; just help me sort out stuff to where it needs to be." Nacho nodded at him and curled up on the secrets pile and waited for Marco to finish, which took longer than he thought it would. "Ok, that's everything." He looked at the small potential secrets pile and went to go there but saw a shelf next to the door he hadn't gone through. He shrugged and turned back to the pile with Nacho lazing about on top of. "Looks like we are making progress." He smiled at the pile and went to get started but a sudden belch that shook the house made Nacho leap up in panic.

Screeching like a stereotypical scared cat he ran right though Marco's legs directly into the massive not secrets pile knocking something out in his panic. Unfortunately that one item seemed to have been an important support item as the whole pile began to collapse. Marco went to scream but Nacho was quick enough to knock him out of the way in time helping him avoid the tide of random items falling down like a wave. Marco blinked looking around seeing all the hard work he had put into this scattered about now with Nacho sitting on his chest looking at him apologetically.

* * *

Glossarick let the bugs carry him around the wand up to the head where he placed his ear against it and knocked on it. He got a strangely watery and hollow echo that made him frown in confusion as he tapped it again. Getting the same result he laid on the ground with the bugs supporting him as he placed a foot up on the greenish swan's wing on the pair of wings pushing it up and down. The two wings moved in synch like they were flapping to his rhythm of pushing up with his foot. He nodded and hmm'd in satisfaction as he let the bugs take him over to the dragon's wing which he put his hand on feeling it up. As he reached the intersection of the bony points that supported the wing the wing shook itself from his grasp and slapped him across the face waving its claw at him before relaxing back to its normal position. Glossarick blinked in shock at this a second before shaking his head to clear it and moved the bugs up to where the gem was located. Looking at it in concern he moved his head back and forth between the gem half and the empty half. He noticed his reflection in the gemless portion was blurry and shadowy with only smoky red eyes visible. Scratching his chin he stared at it in thought for a while before reaching down to the indigo backing and went to pull it up like a car hood. He was interrupted however by a loud burp, a cat screeching, and a loud crashing sound from outside that made him pause and look around for a second. Convinced nothing was happening he opened up the wand and looked in seeing a unicorn with its mane done up in a ponytail running on a treadmill in what seemed to be outer space. The unicorn turned it's head towards Glossarick with it panting from the effort of running to show that it's right eye was blood red and the left was actually two thin yellow ones stacked on top of each other. Screeching at Glossarick in an unearthly manner it's head did a complete 360 back to its starting position and it continued running like nothing had happened.

"Well that's not good at all."

* * *

"No näyttää siltä kuin olen vain skimmer; tuomittu rasvattoman kastikkeen päälle. (Well looks like I'm just a skimmer; doomed to skim the gravy on the hobo stew.)" Star sighed in sadness lying on her back in a defeated tone with her grey-green eyes staring up at the ceiling. "You do anything Marco?" Marco sighed before responding form inside of the closet.

"Not really, your burp set back my progress." Inside the closet Marco was laying on his back as well and rubbing Nacho's head who looked very sad and apologetically at Marco.

"Well… not so bad?" Marco raised an eyebrow in confusion as Star continued. "Slid food under door… bring homework… ok life maybe?" Marco sat up at this with Nacho holding on tightly to him like a hug as he responded.

"Star… Princess Turdina is not going to accept being trapped in a tower for all time." As he said that the spell book began to glow a yellowish color before spitting out Glossarick onto the floor with him looking disgruntled before speaking.

"Seriously Mr. Wing, I am not touching you inappropriately…" Marco grabbed Glossarick up and stared at him annoyed.

"Alright Riddler, enough riddles. Where is the secret I need to fin-" Before Marco could finish the sentence however his thumb brushed over something on Glossarick's chest making the pink gem in his forehead light up like a flash light. "OW my eyes!" Marco dropped Nacho and backed up into the wall with the shelf causing the items to rain down on him, in particular a book.

"Ah you found it Marco, I knew you would." Marco blinked at Glossarick's words and looked at the book in confusion before speaking.

"Really? Well ok then, let's get started." Marco picked Glossarick up again and used the crystal to read the book as Star spoke up.

"What found?" Marco replied back in a distracted manner.

"Something important according to Glossarick, but it appears to be all written in Mewman." Marco flipped through the book for a second until he found a page written in English. "Oh wait I think I found some English. From this day forward I will be writing in English to practice my language skills so I can talk incase if something bad happens to my headband." Star nodded at that smiling slightly before the words sunk in and she got a look of absolute terror on her face.

"Ei, se ei ole Marco, se ei ole sinun tarvetta! (No. That's not it Marco, that's not the thing you need!)". Marco blinked at Star's words not recognizing them due to being in a different language. He shrugged his shoulders thinking if it was important to him Star would at least say something in English since she could just tell him 'stop'.

"Chapter 2: Finding out which items are not food, most notably gum under desk tables. Gross." Marco spoke to himself. Star on the other hand was too panicked to focus enough to speak English.

"Marco laittaa sen alas juuri nyt. Älä lue enää. (Marco put that down right now. Don't read anymore.)" Marco flipped through the book ignoring Star's words until Nacho suddenly took the book from him and began running around.

 **Benny Hill Theme watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg**

"Wait… Nacho bring that back!" Marco ran after Nacho who led Marco on a wild goose chase.

First he led Marco through an area covered with traps of a sort getting his legs caught and toes pinched making Marco limp noticeably. Next he led Marco past the hive he had thrown on the not secrets pile with the inhabitants attacking him with light stings not really hurting Marco but annoying him to no end. Then he led Marco through a thick pile of… something that stuck to Marco and left a strange earthy and musky smell that made Marco's head spin. Finally he tried leading Marco past a crystal but went to leap over it instead of going around it not counting on the fact that there were no paw holds for him. He slipped on the crystal with Marco catching him and wrestling the book from him after a second throwing Nacho to the side.

 **(end music)**

"Do you mind Nacho, I'm trying to help Star here." Nacho went to leap for it again but Glossarick shock his head no at it making to freeze up and consider what to do next. "Ok then where were we?" Marco sat with his back to the door going to read again with Glossarick's light going out. "Wait what?" Glossarick responded immediately.

"Out of juice, you're on your own now kid." Groaning Marco put him to the side and let the light falling through the slates illuminate the book for him.

"Alright what could possibly be…" Marco froze and went wide eyed in shock as he saw the entry for chapter 11. "… 'My thoughts on Marco'?"

Meanwhile outside Star was shaking like a leaf and holding her tail close while rubbing it at the fact that Marco was reading one of her two 'Diaries' so to speak. She was willing to share anything with him, except for the one area that she wrote down about her crush on him; and he had just reached that chapter. She knew he still wasn't fully over Jackie given how he occasionally stared off into space sadly for a time until someone shook him out of it. He even still stared at the photo of him and Jackie when Star turned her into a mermaid to make up for him being late that one time. If he found out about Star's crush now it might end badly, very badly. She whimpered in fear as her anxiety kicked in about the worst case scenario as her mind ran wild…

* * *

 _"Look Star, I'm flattered and all but I prefer humans over liza… wait did Jackie know of this when we were still dating? She mentioned something about me not having my priorities straight and seemed to refer to you about it indirectly. Did you break us up?! Look Star, I think we need some space from each other; we can still be friends, I think, but we need time apart. I'm gonna contact your parents and see if you can go back to Mewni so we can have some time apart to get our priorities straight."_

* * *

… suddenly she felt something… click inside of her. Well not exactly click but more like a faucet being turned just enough so a single drop can come through. A single drop of something that felt potent and powerful, like that time she used her wand to destroy Marco's crystal prison in the hideout. She let it flow her head going straight up and her hair waving around her eerily with her eyes and Mewni marks glowing a brilliant white. She murmured 'Dip Down' as the magic seemed to direct itself to the door making it unlock sending Marco out and making the book go flying with Nacho leaping after it immediately. As Star came down from her high she realized what she did and smiled with tears of relief in her eyes as she began dancing around in joy yelling out.

"Tein sen Tein sen Tein sen, KASTELIN! (I did it I did it I did it, I DIPPED DOWN!)" Star stood over Marco smiling until Nacho came up with the book giving it to Star. "Thank you. *ahem* No touch Marco, Dairy." Marco blinked in confusion sitting up at this until the words connected in his mind and realized what he did with wide eyed shock.

"OH MY GOD! I am so sorry Star, I didn't realize it was that important! I mean we are really close friends but there are still some things that even you wouldn't share with me at times! I should know better than to just try and go through stuff like that but Glossarick said… wait why was I even listening to Glossarick!?" Star chuckled in relief her eyes going bluish green as she realized halfway through the sentence she could understand Marco perfectly now and cut him off.

"Wait… can you understand me Marco?" Marco blinked in confusion and nodded with Glossarick popping up and speaking.

"Well I have good news and bad news; good news is I managed to fix your headband." He held it up to Star who took it and put it in her hair holding it back from her face now. "Bad news is your wand is busted somehow but I think it should still work." He handed that back to Star who stared at it a second before giving it a wave and using it. A puff of green smoke later a mini green tower appeared as a shoot off of Star's tower leaving the four entities covered in some sort of greenish glitter. Nacho immediately went off to go clean himself while Glossarick coughed up some of the dust and yelled out. "I call the new tower." At this however Angie called from downstairs.

"Star, Marco we need you down here; and I mean now not it a few seconds." Star and Marco looked at each other in worry before getting up and going downstairs to the living room.

Once they got there they saw Angie and Raphael were sitting on the couch talking to two standing figures. They appeared to be dress in 'men in black' getup's and wearing unnecessarily thick sunglasses with one being African American and the other being Caucasian. They turned towards them raising eyebrows enough to be noticed behind the sunglasses with one speaking up.

"Hello Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz, we would like to ask you a few questions." He held up a warrant for them with the other pulling out a badge for the CIA facing them down with Marco speaking up.

"Ummm… can I get dressed first?"

 **Alright people, it's time to play 'SPOT THAT REFERENCE!' That is right people, I place references throughout my work by the next episode will be chock full of them. Also, the beginning of the last chapter, right after Marco closed the laptop, is full of references as well; can you guess them all? HAve fan and happy guessing.**

 **As for the next episode, this idea was actually presented by a guest reviewer by the name of** _Guest: Lord Demon_ **who requested it as a one shot. OF course the idea was so good I decided instead to incorporate it into the story with some alterations. The first episode of mine not based AT ALL on any episode from the canon show, get ready for some 'URO INTERVIEWS'.**


	53. Interviews Pt 1 (The URO)

**WH: *Walks out wearing men in black get up facing the audience* This is top secret information I am about to tell you so after I tell you I am going to use this so those of you who don't need to know will not know. *pulls out a Neuralyzer from men in Black." Starco will happen in my story when *Flash* and that's what's going to happen when it will happen people, thank you for listening. *walks out of the room before stopping and looking around confused* Wait did I eliminate my own memory of what's going to happen? Oh no wait it's still there no worries.**

A screen flickers to life like a video camera is recording revealing a room shrouded in darkness with a table in the center with two figures seated in chairs on either end. Lights come on to dimly illuminate an interrogation room like that the police would use except more sleek, professional, and somehow more intimidating. Sitting at the table is a 'man in black' on one end and Alfonzo on the other end looking really nervous and fidgeting. The man in black spoke up coolly and calmly, relaxed the way an alpha predator would as he stared down Alfonzo behind his super thick sunglasses.

"Name Alfonzo Dolittle, age 15 years, son of Lily and Steven Dolittle, known association with a humanoid lizard alien entity named Star Butterfly who has caused undue disruption and destruction. How long have you known this Star Butterfly?" Alfonzo gulped and spoke nervously.

"I'm going to wait for my lawyer before…" He froze as the man locked eyes with him before shakily answering guessing that he didn't have a choice in waiting for one. "Since mid-January sir, January 15th to be exact; the day after Star arrived on earth Marco introduced her to us." The man in black nodded letting his gaze fall slightly from Alfonzo to let him know he was doing the right thing.

"What is your relationship with this Star Butterfly?" The camera flickers revealing a changed scene with everything the same except a very nervous Ferguson is now sitting at the table and speaking.

"I am a friend of her sir, one of the few true 'friends' she has as far as I can tell." The man nodded and continued.

"Why is that?" Ferguson hesitated a minute before answering.

"Well… it's due to some fearsome bullying in the past on her home world. Apparently half-Monsters like herself are looked down upon by everyone the way black people were looked down on in the 1950's south." The man in black looked directly at Ferguson with renewed interest as he spoke.

"A half-Monster you say… what is her other half?" The camera flickers again revealing a surprisingly relaxed Oskar sitting at the table now answering the same question.

"Mewman man, the other main race of her home world called Mewni, I think. She never really talked that much about her home world with us." The man nodded letting his gaze fall slightly as he asked more questions.

"Any reason why she doesn't talk about her home world?" Oskar shrugged and strummed at a keytar that wasn't there.

"Don't know as I never asked and she never really opened up. My best guess is that she doesn't like her home world as much as earth due to the prejudice she suffered there but that's just a guess man." The man in black nodded and asked his next question.

"So what do you know about her home world?" The camera flickered again revealing a suspicious and nervous looking Jackie in the chair now looking around at the walls as she answered the question.

"Well I know it's some sort of fantasy like world like Dungeons and Dragons or something like that with all sorts of mythical beasts and whatnot. I only really took notice because Star introduced me to some mermaids at one point when me an Marco accompanied her to the underworld." At this the man sat up looking at Jackie intently asking another question.

"Where is this 'underworld' you visited?" Jackie returned his stare unflinchingly and answered calmly.

"It is a place in her home world of Mewni which is technically a geographical location and a kingdom ruled by a family of demons called the Lucitors. I'm actually friends with the prince of that realm who goes by the name of Tom." The man kept his gaze on Jackie as he spoke his next question.

"Demons, Monsters, and Mewmans; do you know of any other races on that world?" The camera fluctuated again revealing a slyly smiling and surprisingly excited Janna answering the question.

"Well I've heard of Gryphons, giant intelligent rats, a race of pigeons of all things, Waterfolk who live in the seas, giant disembodied levitating unicorn heads known as Ponyheads, and one called the Dawi Zharr which Star claims directly translates to 'giant Dwarf' in their native tongue." The man nodded taking this all in as he leaned back again and got to his big question.

"So what can you tell me about their magic?" Janna got really excited upon that question and spoke up excitedly.

"She has this family wand that has been passed from queen to princess for who knows how long and it is awesome. This is like the old school type of magic where when you have it you can do anything you want with it if you can think it. She usually uses it to fight off bad guys who come to steal it or to help out others with random tasks, which is cool I guess." Janna lost some of her inflation with the man perking up at one line in particular.

"You said 'from queen to princess', what do you mean by that?" The camera flickered again showing Angie was now sitting in the chair looking surprisingly professional as she calmly answered his question.

"The Butterfly wand is a family heirloom that Star's mother got from her's and her mother before then as a sign of royal power. Although I think that they can learn to use magic without the wand from what Moon has told me." The man nodded and continued with the questioning.

"Who is this Moon that you spoke of?" Angie replied in her calm and collected manner.

"She is Star's mother and the queen of Mewni, the main kingdom of the continent of Mewni in the world of Mewni." The man in black raised an eyebrow at Angie who sighed as she replied. "I know it sounds strange but to them it makes perfect sense." The man in black nodded and asked his next question.

"So, if Moon is the queen then what is the political situation like in Mewni?" The camera shifts again revealing a worried looking Mr. Lancer twirling his fingers as he answered the question.

"Well fortunately I talked with some adults from the kingdom so I actually have a good answer there. The kingdom of Mewni is a constitutional Monarchy with the constitutional part initiated by Moon after she came to power due to her view of one person having too much power and being too easily manipulated. Over the continent of Mewni the kingdom of Mewni is actually very important as the queen serves as a 'spiritual high queen' providing an example for what other kingdoms should strive for. Of course with Queen Moon taking a Monster by the name of Toffee as her husband it was considered an EXTREMELY unpopular decision by many. In fact the way Moon seized power after a civil war that wracked the kingdom with her taking a Monster husband sent shockwaves throughout the whole continent with lots of unforeseen side effects. Civil wars and internal strife have seized most of the kingdoms in their world as Monsters and lower class Mewmans rebel against those in power in a manner more similar to the French Revolution then the American Revolution. In a strange twist on this though many kingdoms next to or close to her kingdom are actually rebelling against their old rulers just to join the Kingdom of Mewni as Moon is very popular with those below the nobility." The man in black nodded in content as Lancer finally finished up his words and went on to the next question.

"So Moon started a war and took a 'Monster' as he husband. Why did this war start?" At this the camera fluctuated again revealing Raphael sitting at the table looking very vulnerable as he answered the question.

"Well she didn't like how the lower classes were being treated, especially the Monsters. She also found out a group known as the Shadow Clause was manipulating the queens like puppets for their own goals." At this the man in black looked up again with interest and his next question.

"So this Shadow Clause, is it still around?" Raphael shook his head no very wildly and spoke fast.

"Oh no, Moon wiped them out when she started what they call the 'War of Moonlight Shadow' when the fighting got fierce." The man in black nodded his interest fading slightly as he moved onto his next question.

"Tell me, what do you think of Star Butterfly?" At this the camera shifted and blurred again clearing up to reveal Starfan13 sitting at the table looking at the man angrily as she spoke.

"Star is not the bad guy here ok. She is an awesome princess from another dimension and nothing will change it you got that?" the man in black nodded not at all perturbed by Starfan13's outburst and continued with his questioning.

"So you believe Star Butterfly is no threat in any way to earth directly or indirectly?" At this Starfan13 got a noble face about her as she stared the man in black down replying boldly.

"She would not hurt anyone unless if they tried to hurt her and she would protect us from anything that followed her here; she is just that good." The man in black nodded to that taking it down as if it were a side note and continued.

"So do you think Star's traumatic past is at all influencing her magic or how she does things in a negative way?" The camera shifted again revealing Marco was sitting at the table now constantly glancing around as if someone was watching him as he answered.

"We don't lock people up just because they have had traumatic pasts and a hard time as a kid so why should we do that to Star? She needs people there to let her know she is not an evil entity like so many people back on Mewni believe she is just because of how she was born." The man in black fixed Marco a dead eye stare through the glasses that made Marco sweat as he spoke again.

"Answer the question Marco Diaz." Marco gulped and nodded responding.

"No, I do not believe she is a threat." The man in black stared him down for the longest time before moving on to the next question.

"So the multiple incidents of damage in the past, most notably an event at a football game, are not accurate representations of what will happen in the future?" At this the camera flashed with static to reveal Star was sitting at the table holding her tail and rubbing it while keeping her eyes on the floor like she was about to be locked up just for being there.

"I make mistakes and mess up ok. I want to be good but I just do something wrong and I get scared and things just get worse and the cycle continues on and on and…" The man in black raised his hand making Star fall silent with a wince, making a flicker of sympathy fall over his face as he asked his final question.

"Do your parents want anything on earth or from earth that would justify opening up diplomatic relations or… otherwise?" Star paused for a moment and looked up at him with tears in her eyes responding slowly.

"They sent me here because earth is a safe backwater where no one would look for me so I can safely learn how to use my wand. Earth has nothing they would want at all except for friendship. My mom was and is a warrior but she doesn't want war with earth, she has too many problems back home to go picking a fight with you guys." The man in black nodded and stood up from the desk and spoke shortly.

"Wait here." He turned and left the room leaving Star to huddle in the cold room holding onto her tail and sneezing slightly.

* * *

"Well? What do you think?" The man in black turned towards the round table where three individuals sat; a woman in 'men in black' get up, and older man who looked to be a one star general, and some sort of automaton looking entity that had brief wisps of steam going in and out of it. "My objective view is we should wait for confirmation from headquarters before proceeding." At this the general laughed slightly at this and spoke up in a Texas accent.

"Those clowns have done a lot to save earth in the past but they take too damn long for this kind of stuff. Technically we are splitting hairs by bringing them in for the interviews but it was damn time some sort of action took place. My view is we should just alter the memory of everyone while we still can and take Star in to see if her 'parents' will come to talk to us, just to be sure nothing bad is happening." At this the automaton figure began speaking up in a German accent very sharply at the general.

"You remember vat happened last time you did that right? Just because she ist an alien from another vorld does not mean she is ze bad guy despite vat she has done. If she vas being malicious she vould have acted long before zis point and concealed herself more carefully." The woman spoke up at this point with a cool and calm British accent close enough to, by some standards, be considered cutting off the automaton.

"The bird, cat, and dogs we retrieved were entities made solely of magical energy solidified into a surprisingly stable living substance. IF she has that much power at her command to quite literally create life from nothing she is to be considered a threat no matter what. She herself claims she does not know how to use her powers and if she can't command them properly or loses them to a more ill-intentioned entity we could be dealing with a god-like threat. The fact she did not have her wand on her and doesn't know where it is right now just goes to show how poorly protected it is." The general guaffed at this and sat up staring at everyone before speaking low.

"Do you all know the threats we face and how hard it is to keep the populace ignorant of these matters? We need STEEL control here if we wish to complete our goal and keep humanity from being exposed to greater threats." The man in black spoke up now with a curious tone of voice.

"What if we began educating the people about these threats and how to deal with them? Give them the truth." At this the general laughed in a way that made the other three uncomfortable before speaking.

"Truth? Truth? They can't handle the truth Agent J. We live in a world that needs these walls of ignorance to keep the people from having to make a choice which could doom the world. The average person isn't ready and probably never will be to handle such responsibilities in dealing with these 'outsiders' from other worlds. People will chose to side with foul creatures like the Ancient Ones or world conquering aliens because they simply can't comprehend how we will be treated under them. We have a responsibility greater than anyone could possibly fathom and do you know how everyone will react to us, especially the 'PC' or 'conspiracy nut' crowd? Disgust and bitterness that we resort to such tactics to keep them safe and cursing us while weeping for the ones who could enslave them at BEST! And those that do comprehend such things will usually remain silent because they are cowards who don't want to be put on the front line and risk everything for man-kind. We use words like 'honor', 'code', and 'loyalty as the backbone of a life spent defending something while these people use them as a punchline. We have neither the time nor the patience to explain to these people who rise and sleep under the blanket of freedom we provide the 'manner' in which we provide it in! IF they just would say 'thank you' and be on their way or be willing to pick up a gun themselves fine; but I do not give a DAMN on the 'truth' some of us think these people are entitled to!" As the General took in a few breaths from his rant the reality of their situation crushed in on them once again and Agent J bowed his head replying in a professional manner.

"It was just a hypothesis sir; many people seem far more open to not just the outer worlds but what needs to be done to protect us and what could lie in wait out there." At this the female agent spoke up again almost rudely.

"Just because they know about it doesn't mean they will help protect man-kind. One of the people brought in was illegally hosting an undead voodoo witchdoctor in her home and when the threats of him were brought up she simply responded 'that what makes it fun'." After a brief silence everyone turned to the automaton as if waiting for his judgement with him speaking up in a heavy tone of voice.

"Keep zem under survalliance and in our custody until we get confirmation; if people outside begin asking questions alter zeir memory." He motioned to the general who nodded somewhat satisfied with the turn of events responding promptly.

"At least something is getting done."

"And a lot faster than you might think." The quartet turned to look as a door opened with what appeared to be a red humanoid with a devil's tail, cloven feet, two filed down horns, and wearing a trench coat stepped into the room staring at them in indifference. "And this man is going to explain why it's a bad idea to use your original plan _general_." He spoke it in such a way that it just annoyed the general as Toffee of all people stepped into the room wearing his black royal suit with gold tasseled shoulders and a monotone look on his face.

"Hello there commanders, I am King Toffee Butterfly of the Kingdom of Mewni from the world of Mewni; or Star's father if you prefer?" Everyone raised their eyebrow's at this with Agent J speaking up.

"Daaamn wonder what her mother looks like?" Everyone looked at him oddly. "Sorry, I sometimes speak without thinking." Toffee nodded nonchalantly and continued.

"We would not have sent our daughter here unless if we had some insurance against groups like yourselves from kidnapping our daughter and her friends. Are you familiar with an EMP?" He spoke it as if it was a completely foreign word to him with everyone nodding with worried looks on their faces now worried. "Well I have helped Moon acquire a spell that not only will do something along those lines as well as alter smokeless gun-powder and percussion caps making them useless and affecting powered engines; like steam, nuclear, etc.; not protected by a magical barrier making them unable to function. And we can make this affect spread across the entire globe if need be and last for a decade." At this a deathly silence fell over the room as everyone took in the implications of Toffee's words with the automaton speaking up.

"You vould doom billions of souls just because your daughter vas taken into custody?" Toffee shook his head no and promptly replied.

"If she was kidnapped by a group like yourselves because you deemed it necessary when it was not. We have eyes on you and the minute you do something like this we will approach you outright demanding an explanation. And if it does not meet our satisfaction and you do not release our daughter and her friends unharmed…" He let the sentence end there letting the implication sink in with the general replying in a shaky yet stoic voice.

"You would do all that for your daughter?" Toffee faced him and gave him a massive, wide eyed, crazed and carnivorous smile that made the general shrivel slightly as he replied in a creepy manner.

"She is my daughter and one of the few things in the cosmos that can make me feel anything other than a primeval urge for self-preservation and thus is both unselfishly and selfishly one of my most precious things. DON'T PUSH ME!" His face went back to normal as he returned to a monotone voice. "Now I would like to see my daughter and everyone else for that matter before I take them back home. Oh and if you don't let me show my wife our daughter in 15 minutes she is going to launch localized warning version of the spell at earth so I suggest you hurry."

 **To the Guest:** **The opinionator, thank you for reading my works all the way through. Honestly, and this goes for everyone, I write what I want to read so I am just assuming I have good taste if this many people are complementing me.**


	54. Interviews Pt 2 (Coalition)

**This chapter was far harder then it should have been. I published this chapter slightly unsatisfied thinking it was finished but not two hours later I realized what was needed. Well I finished it now despite everything and I hope you are satisfied by it.**

Star looked to the ground as the men in black in front and behind her escorted her through the hallways of the base with their presence subconsciously reminding her not to run. She could probably beat these guys down if she was quick about it but where would she go and what about the others or her wand? She quickly looked up from her tail hugging and saw a blank hallway that branched off at times with simple office doors occasionally sitting like closed mouths all around. She shivered both from the cold and fear at what they were going to do to her and were probably doing to her friends. She didn't spend a lot of time on this however before they arrived at one of the doors that was somehow important and waited for her to go in. She looked up at them with grayish-green eyes and opened the door slowly like she was about to be executed upon entering and stepped into the room. Inside it was actually quite warm and looked rather comfortable with multiple sitting chairs and other amenities that made it look like a public solar in a high end workplace back on Mewni; adjusted with a flat screen TV and electrical lamps. The main point of interest however were the people in the room with a group of strangers talking with her…

"DADDY!" Star bolted across the room on all fours with Toffee only having enough time turn around before Star leapt onto him hugging him tight. Star sobbed for a second with Toffee quickly comforting her holding her back and kissing her softly on the forehead. "Wha-what's going on daddy and where's Marco?" At this Toffee straightened up holding her close as he turned back to the group of strangers.

"Bring Marco here; Star will only be convinced if she sees him in person." Star looked up to get a good view of the strangers at last.

There was a red demon guy with filed off horns and a right arm made out of stone from the elbow down who looked completely at ease leaning back against a wall and looking at the other strangers with bored amusement. There was also a guy wearing what she recognized was an earth old fashioned deep sea diving suit with thin wisps of steam coming out at a few points. There was also a professional looking woman in black looking at Star with observant caution who was accompanied by the two men in black who had brought Star and Marco to this place. But the most prominent of them was some sort of high ranking military figure who was deferring to Toffee professionally with carefully disguised frustration that most people would not have been able to pick up on. He spoke up for the group after a second of no one speaking up in a curt and clipped tone of voice.

"Put your wife on screen and we will get the boy for you _sir_." Star caught on he was frustrated with something but was not quite sure what. Toffee nodded to him and pulled out a pocket mirror going to the flat screen with the general calling out to the two men outside. "Go get Marco Diaz." The two nodded and walked away shutting the door with Toffee speaking to Star as he connected the mirror in with the flat screen… somehow.

"Well Star you have caused quite the stir on earth by coming here 4 ½ months ago. Just by walking around you have exposed people to the fact that there are more than just humans which it turns out is rather risky not for you but for the people of earth. The agency here claims that you could not be allowed to walk free and expose people to such sights especially when you began using your magic to heavily influence the world. Like that football game where you threatened the lives of multiple people by trying to help out through a misunderstanding." Star rubbed her tail somewhat ashamed of her actions still but was put at ease by Toffee shooting her a lopsided grin. "Of course you learned your lesson considering that the only real big incidents after that were a birthday party that was crashed by your Aunt Mavis and your friend Marco using your pass to take kids to the museum dimension. Speaking of which I need to have a talk with that boy on using you to further his own goals as I heard he did it to impress that Jackie girl." At this Star perked up and spoke quickly to him.

"Please don't dad, Marco felt ashamed by it and apologized to me so I don't want to bring it up again. Also he and Jackie broke up not too long ago and he feels even more ashamed by how he did it to keep up a 'failed' relationship." Toffee blinked in surprise at this and nodded respecting Star's wishes as he finished up.

"There, let's connect in with Moon before she sends a warning shot." Star looked up in concern as Toffee turned to the group of strangers who were talking with each other. "Can you turn this contraption on for me please?" The man in the diving suit raised his hand and sent forward a line of steam that curled around a remote control and made the TV come on. "Thank you." Star turned towards her father and spoke to him.

"How did you hook up a mirror to a TV and what did you mean by 'warning shot'?" Before Toffee could speak the screen fully turned on and Moon appeared on screen.

"Hello, is anybody there?" Toffee smacked his forehead and turned the mirror so Moon could see the whole room. "Oh there you are dear. Star are you alright?" Star smiled and spoke to Moon.

"Yes mom but…" At this however the doors opened again and Marco came into the room looking around nervously until his eyes landed on Star and Toffee. "MARCO!" Star bounded across the room on all fours again with Marco rushing towards her as well.

"STAR!" The two embraced and fell to a sitting position with the two crying on each other's shoulders with Moon speaking up.

"What exactly is going on and what were you planning to do to our daughter and her friends?" At this the woman in black spoke up with a curt tone.

"We were acting to see if your child was a potential threat to earth by keeping her under observation for the last few months. After getting no word from our higher ups we decided to bring her and those in closest contact with her in for questioning." At this the general spoke up.

"My view is we should have done this sooner but the higher ups kept on advising caution and to not interfere with what was going on. If you think we were being too hard well we have to maintain an airtight seal in order to keep earth safe from other worldly invaders. I mean just tell your kid what you would have done if we had not given in to your demands." At this Star and Marco looked up in concern at Moon and Toffee who looked uncomfortable at the attention being directed towards them.

"Um… what are they talking about?" Star asked cautiously with Toffee replying.

"*sigh* You know that warning shot I mentioned earlier Star?" Star nodded slightly worried. "Well we wouldn't have sent you to earth unless if we had some insurance of making sure earth authorities didn't kidnap you for various reasons if they found out you were there." Moon went to speak up but Toffee kept her from taking any of the blame. "We devised a spell that would affect the entire planet taking out electrical power, gunpowder, and any internal combustion or nuclear powered engines that were not magically sealed." At this Marco's jaw dropped and he spoke in a shocked tone of voice.

"Tha… that would wipe out billions of people and undo centuries of technology advancement." Star blinked in shock at this fact and the strangers looked at Marco slightly impressed that he found out how bad it would be so quickly. "And you would do this if anyone kidnapped Star?" Toffee went to speak but Moon cut in.

"Only as a last resort if the people of earth were not willing to compromise and return our daughter under any circumstances. We are not people who bring genocide." At that moment Marco saw Moon look far older then was as she continued. "I don't want conflict of any kind but I need to protect my daughter." At this the man in the diving suit nodded and spoke up.

"Vhile zis comes from a gut place you can see how vulnerable earth is. Ve can't let any ground be gained by any group as most races don't look upon humans kindly except as slaves und a resource like cattle. Also, how many humans vould you know of who vould side vith the other vorlders if they came vith conquest in mind; like zat Janna girl and her vitchdoctor she set free." Despite all the pressure suddenly put on them Marco got sharp eyed and spoke up.

"Wait, Janna brought that witchdoctor back from the museum?" At the nods of consent Marco face palmed. "Damn it Janna I do NOT need to deal with your obsession over 'spooky' stuff and magic." Star chuckled at that nervously despite everything and turned back to the group speaking shakily.

"Sorry about all the disturbances and damage I caused and the threat hanging over your heads; I don't want to be a problem you know." At this she got a sympathetic look from the black man in black as he spoke up.

"You know we should at least open up with these people. I mean getting in good with royalty is always a…" The woman in black turned towards him speaking sharply.

"Agent J, we will talk about opening up with them at a later date in private. For now we just need to set things in order here." At this the other man in black spoke up.

"Agent L, with all due respect, perhaps this is the best time to open up with them as we never know when we could get a decent meeting with them." As the group looked at each other unsure the demon spoke up.

"Oh yeah you probably want introductions so we aren't just a group of strangers to you kids and your majesties or whatever you are. Those people are Agents J and K and Agent L, top agents and the leader of the 'Men in Black' as they like to call themselves." He pointed towards the two men in black and them to the woman in black. "That there is Dr. Echo the leader of the Unknown Research Organization that's been poking and prodding since 1834 at supernatural stuff or otherwise." He pointed to the guy with the German accent inside of old fashioned diving outfit. "And that there is…" The general cut him off introducing himself.

"I am General Hawk, commander in chief of the GIJoe's who do most of the field work of our coalition of organizations." As he finished Marco spoke up again.

"Wait, there's a coalition of you guys? Like a secret organization web of people that work in the shadows to keep order and stability on earth?" The group nodded with Marco smiling slightly. "Well guess Janna's gonna be rich when we all get out." At the confused looks he elaborated. "Janna made a bet with all of us that if she could prove groups like yours existed everyone who joined the bet would pay her from a one-time loan she gave our group of friends a long time ago." The group chuckled slightly in amusement as Moon spoke up with a sigh.

"Does this remind you a bit too much of The Shadow Clause Toffee?" Toffee nodded begrudgingly at Moon with everyone focusing on her. "We… have bad experiences with groups in the shadows claiming to serve a greater cause through secrecy and subterfuge. I almost became a puppet of said group in their quest to 'protect' Mewni." General Hawk stepped forward at this and spoke up.

"I assure you your majesty, even if we wanted to there is no way we could seize control of earth. All we can do is protect it from threats most of mankind is not even aware of and we can barely do that at times. If we didn't have the secrecy everyone would weigh us down with various demands for the truth and regulations that make no sense." He huffed in annoyance as Toffee spoke again.

"So your group is a coalition you say? Who is the one who organizes it and leads it?" As he said that the door to the room opened and an aged British voice came out of it.

"In 1944 a demon was summoned to the earth to turn the tide of World War 2 by the Nazi's in a endeavor known as Ragnar rok." A surprisingly young looking man stepped through the door wearing a brown sports coat and a black bowtie walking with a cane. His hair was a salt and pepper mixture on both his head and in the thin beard and mustache on his face framing his brown eyes. "But their plans were thwarted and the child of hell was rescued by good men who taught him honor, kindness, and a sense of right naming him Hellboy." He nodded towards the demon who smiled warmly at the man. "Sensing the threat these powers possessed to humanity the scientists and researchers who gathered around the boy became the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense; an international organization that protects the world from occult and supernatural threats. However as times have changed so must we to combat and protect the earth from said threats and in 1994 the various organizations that combat these 'unusual' threats and dealing with otherworldly beings began combing into a single coalition. I am Trevor Bruttenholm, as close to a set leader of said coalition and the leader of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense which spearheads our collective efforts to protect the world." At this he smiles in a sly way at Star, Marco, Toffee, and Moon. "There are things that go bump in the night, we're the ones who bump back." After a moment of silence at this Marco spoke up again.

"Definitely going to need to pay Janna back that 'loan'." Star giggled with Agent L speaking up.

"You all do realize you will need to keep our existence a secret from the people of earth in order for us to do our jobs properly right?" Marco and Star nodded eagerly as Trevor spoke up again to Moon.

"I came here myself in order to hopefully request a meeting with you your majesty by communicating through Star Butterfly." At this he bowed to Moon and Toffee in a well-practiced fashion. "And while the circumstances leading up to this are less than pleasing at least we have gotten to good point, right?" He looked up hopefully with Moon blushing slightly as she replied.

"Well indeed. But before we begin speaking what do you plan on doing with my daughter and her friends and host family." Trevor stood up straight smiling calmly at Moon as he replied.

"We will not interfere with their day to day life and will allow circumstances to resume as normal unless if a major threat emerges in which case we will work to protect your daughter from said threats." He turned back to Star and Marco. "Speaking of which I think it is time you two got home as there is school tomorrow am I right?" He raised an eyebrow with Marco and Star both groaning slightly eliciting a soft laugh from everyone with Marco speaking up.

"Wait before we go, how did you know these guys kidna... took us into custody?" Moon smiled slightly before replying.

"Well after the 'storming the castle' incident I placed a permanent scrying spell on Star and you invade if anything were to happen to you." Marco nodded in understanding before he got a scared look on his face and covered himself up with everyone looking at Moon worriedly. "Don't worry it's only a sensing spell not an actual revealing spell; I don't peep on boys anymore since I'm married." As everyone's looks deepened Moon got a bit exasperated. "Oh come don't tell me you haven't considered peeping on people in the past." At this Hellboy spoke up.

"To blatantly change the subject I'll show you the way out, if there are no worries about security clearance?" He looked with a cocked eyebrow at Dr. Echo who sighed slightly.

"Zey are already zis deep, zey have top security clearance until zey leave ze facility I guess." Star and Marco chuckled as they accompanied Hellboy leaving Moon and Toffee to discuss via Mirror diplomatic stuff with the coalitions leaders.

After a short walk the trio made it to a larger waiting room where everyone else was at waiting nervously. At the site of Star and Marco however the group immediately rushed them with Marco's parents getting priority.

"Hijo, thank God you are ok we were so worried!" Hellboy let the group reunite before coughing to get attention and speaking up.

"Now you all do realize you can't talk about what happened here or any secrets you learned about the coalition right?" He turned to Janna in particular and took on a slightly intimidating tone. "Same goes for you if you want to keep your witchdoctor friend." At this Janna nodded begrudgingly going along with it before speaking up.

"Say demon guy..."

"His name is Hellboy." Janna smiled at Marco's words and spoke again.

"First off cool name, second what is this coalition?" Hellboy looked down at Janna's question before answering nonchalantly.

"Well aside from The URO, BPRD, GIJoe's, and MIB who deal with unknown research, occult defense, special military missions, and dealing with alien threats and immigration respectively several others. There are also the Secret Scientists who specialize on cryptids which is just a fancy term for unusual animal that is led by the Saturday family. There is Section 13 who deals with human terrorists making deals with otherworldly groups, mostly east Asian varieties for some reason. And there are the Guys in White who specialize in dealing with Ghosts and other undead of that variety that I belive your... Mr. Lancer I think it was, has had past interactions with. Aside from those the groups aren't that important, though there are still four independent ones outside of our coalition. One each in China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa but they aren't that important either unless if you go to those countries." Everyone chuckled relived at the demon's manner of explaining things with Mr. Lancer speaking up.

"Say you wouldn't happen to know Danny Phantom would you?" Hellboy have a wry smile at that before replying.

"I figured you would ask about him. He's an independent agent still hoping to become an astronaut but whatever, at least his skills aren't crap." Hellboy went to led the group wit Janna smiling at Marco, Ferguson, Alfonzo, and Oskar.

"You all of course know what this means." The four groaned as they followed Hellboy out of the headquarters.

* * *

Star was talking with her parents via mirror later the next day having gotten home from school and was idly reminiscing over the last few days. Every one of her group had sworn to secrecy in order to protect the coalition and in the process themselves from any threats of discovery as it was supposed to be a secret Star was on earth right now. Everyone of course paid Janna up begrudgingly as she began pricking Hellboy with questions about the supernatural which he responded in his calm and begrudgingly fashion. Star chuckled to herself as she remembered the dinner that night as the Diaz's celebrated getting out of a sticky situation like that. She also got some answers from Mr. Lancer on Danny Phantom saying that he was the half-ghost he served as vice-principal to and was currently training to be an astronaut but served as an independent agent, going by the code name Danny Phantom, in order to make money for college.

"So Star, how are thing going with you?" Star snapped to reality at Moon's words and spoke up.

"Oh it's like nothing has really changed from the normal honestly. Although I do think Marco has finally gotten over Jackie as he was able to hold a full conversation with her today and not act all sullen afterwards." Moon nodded in appreciation and spoke in a sly tone.

"Say, Marco is a rather nice boy despite some his flaws. Perhaps you should consider…"

"Moon we agreed not to push Star in getting a boyfriend as that was what you were pushed to do remember." Star blushed as Toffee silenced Moon and spoke up a little too loudly.

"Besides we're just friends, he doesn't view me that way." ***Throb pang*** Moon chuckled at Star's words as she quickly tried to change the subject. "Say you never answered my question yesterday dad. How were you able to set up the mirror with the TV despite you not knowing how it worked?" Toffee smiled gazing off into the distance as if reminiscing.

"Well not long after I became your mother's tutor I had to help her learn how to dance and fortunately had a VHS set of dancing lessons from earth to help me out. I of course had to set it up and studied how to connect mirror technology with earth technology in order to do so." He and Moon looked at each other smiling softly and blushing slightly. "In fact the first lesson night was kind of when our bond really began to grow into something more than just tutor and student." Star smiled at her parents for a minute before hearing Angie call for her.

"Oh got to go. I'll call you guys later!" Moon and Toffee waved at Star as she hung up leaving them alone with Toffee speaking up.

"So do you really think Star is interested in that earth boy?" Moon giggled and spoke in a light manner.

"Oh come on I know you are dense but just look at how close those two are; reminds me of us." Moon leaned in close hugging Toffee with Toffee returning the embrace and rubbing her head.

"I guess you might have a point there. Now then we should…" He was stopped by Moon pulling him to the bed and sitting him down.

"Not now, I have had a stressful few days and you are going to pet my head Toffee you hear?" Toffee nodded with Moon laying her head on his lap purring as Toffee rubbed her head.

 **Seems a little anti-climatic but I wasn't going to eliminate anyone's memories... yet. Also this week is going to be a bit shaky on publishing though I will still get one out once every one to two weeks at least as per my original promise. Well this heavy stuff seems a bit heavy so I think it's time for something a little more lighthearted... like committing a felony to save your favorite hangout spot from debt. Next time people we will be committing 'The Heist' to save the Bounce Lounge.**

 **Side note, the spell I had Moon and Toffe come up with is actually a reference itself to a book called 'Dies the Fire' by S.M. Stirling one of my all time favorite authors.**


	55. The Heist Pt 1

**WH: Hmmmm. *stares at bank blueprints in suspicion as I look for a date on it.* And you are sure these are up to date? *turns to Omnitraxus who nods eagerly.***

 **OP: Of course, I am the master of space time so I shoulc know that these are right.**

 **WH: *Sigh* Well ok people, let's get this heist underway. *turns towards the audience* Please not people, what everyone is committing here is a crime and should not be encouraged under any circumstances... unless the person you are commuting the crime against is an asshole in which case go for it. ;)**

A soft drizzle fell from a seemingly eternal grey sky over a rundown mansion of sorts that looked fantastic in design but was poorly maintained. There was however a small section that seemed to be a least passable in condition with a limo parked on a roundabout in front of the mansion close to that section. Inside of it the inside space was cluttered with random odds and ends in what looked a bit like a low end apartment room. Sitting at a small table Miss Heinous sat impatiently tapping her foot while her servant Gemini worked on something mechanical in nature tirelessly. As Heinous was about to speak a clanging and sparking sound occurred making her perk up with Gemini stepping back with a satisfied smirk on his face. As they watch the heap of mechanics seems to step up and shake itself about as if putting itself together taking the form of a female automaton. As she put herself together she gazed around with mechanical eyes, one being red eye and one blue that also looked to be outfitted with sniper gear. Heinous got up gesturing to a Nazi style uniform that was deep black with purple and silver trim speaking eagerly.

"Ah Captain Chantel DuBois, nice to see you are back in service. I do hope your time turned off has not dulled you in the slightest." DuBois got her clothes and other equipment on superhumanly quick as she replied in a French accent.

"Nonsense, nothing can dull this hunter in the slightest. Especially when your assistant is the one putting me back together after the rebellion." She nodded to Gemini who smiled genuinely and responded.

"Well I am just doing what is necessary for the school now that there are so few of us left loyal to the school and Ms. Heinous."

"Speaking of which, we have an assignment for you." DuBois perked up at Heinous's words as she received a file folder. "There are two princesses who spearheaded the rebellion that brought us down; a princess Star Butterfly of Mewni and her friend Princess Turdina of Terra, otherwise known as Earth. Your goal is to hunt them down and bring them in dead or alive to serve as examples for what happens to those who resist St. Olga's proper protocol. I know this will likely touch off conflict with that brat Queen Moon but I am willing to take that kind of hit now considering the situation." Heinous pulled out a bobby pin from her pocket and handed it to DuBois. "Use this to track them but be warned, they are fearsome so do not underestimate them." DuBois nodded pulling out something she inserted the bobby pin into before speaking.

"Has my services as a hunter ever failed you master?" She got a quick reading from the item that appeared to be a tracking device and pulled out an oversized kitchen knife. "I will bring them to you or die trying." She waved the dagger cutting and X shape portal in the air which she stepped through leaving Gemini and Heinous alone with Gemini speaking up.

"Sorry it took so long to repair her but my tools and materials were sub…" Heinous rubbed his head softly with him visibly relaxing under her hand as she spoke softly.

"Gemini, you have done adequately at the very least; but I have one small task for you still." She walked over to a busted cookie jar and pulled out a wad of cash prompting Gemini's stomach to growl.

"Oh dear, my apologies; it has been awhile since we have had a decent meal." Heinous rolled her eyes and handed him the cash speaking annoyed.

"Well this is to buy food AFTER you get me some hair dye, you know which variety, and bring the receipt as well." Gemini nodded and walked out of the room with Heinous watching him walk off with a sigh.

* * *

A lazy Saturday morning in the Diaz household was very much that with everyone participating in it in some way. Raphael was sketching a sculpture concept lazily while he listened to the radio, Angie was sitting on a comfy chair reading something with her feet propped up, and Star and Marco were watching cartoons still in their pajamas. Marco smiled looking down at Star who was leaned up next to him and still eating breakfast as he combed her hair with the special comb making her purr in delight. Her hair was a difficult thing to manage so, even though it took a bit of convincing as she didn't want to 'burden him with the task, Star had agreed to let Marco comb her hair all the time which he really liked doing. It just felt so soft and silky while looking so beautiful with the silver color and blue tints of it sparkling and considering there was so much of it he could do it for hours at times if it was in really bad shape. As he finished up the essential work and got started on just 'combing for the sake of combing' the door burst open with Ponyhead flying in with rainbow tears streaming down her face yelling out.

"STAAAAR *sniff sob* IT'S HORRIBLE!" Ponyhead collapsed on the floor sobbing as Star sat up looking on in shock before speaking.

"Awwww, what is it Ponyhead, we can get through it together whatever it is." She leaned in close to Marco whispering. "She probably ran out of her special toothpaste again and needs help, such a drama queen." Marco chuckled at that as Star led Ponyhead up to her room as Marco watched cartoons again sighing at the fact that he couldn't continue combing Star's hair. After a few minutes however Star's crying scream cut through the household making Marco sit up in shock as he heard glass cracking. Looking over he saw Angie was looking up in shock with her reading glasses cracked prompting Marco to speak up.

"I'll go see what's up." He leapt off the couch and ran upstairs to Star's room and saw both of them sobbing on Star's bed. "Star what's wrong?!" Marco ran over and patted Star on the back softly with her looking up at him with a tear streaked face.

"Th… th… *gulp* THE BOUNCE LOUNGE IS CLOSING!" Star grabbed onto him sobbing with Ponyhead actually flying up to Marco and leaning on him looking for comfort as well while speaking up.

"It's not fair earth turd, IT'S NOT FAIR!" Marco sat in shock as the two sobbed on him as he thought, 'If Ponyhead is coming to me for support this must mean a lot to them.' Marco went into protective mode and held the two close letting them get out their sobbing before speaking.

"Look guys, perhaps Ponyhead misinterpreted something. I mean someone could be spreading a rumor or a false sign was hung up or… something. I mean Ponyhead is quick to blow things out of the water and spout information emotionally." Ponyhead glared at Marco before responding.

"You are on thin ice earth turd." Star sat up drying her tears as best she could while rubbing her tail as she spoke.

"That *sniff* is a good point. Let's go to the Bounce Lounge before making conclusions. I mean it can't actually be closing… right?"

* * *

"Yep, it's closing alright." Marco said in a sad tone as the now dressed group stared at the closing sign in the Bounce Lounge.

"I can't believe it, after all these years it's just closing." Star stared off around the Bounce Lounge speaking her thoughts. "Where did the time go?" Marco spoke up at that as Star stared off into space in a depressed state.

"Sometimes things don't go, they just end naturally." At this Ponyhead spoke up in annoyance.

"Pfff, stop spewing that philosophy crap on us earth turd, it stinks enough as is." When Star turned towards Ponyhead with a glare however she quickly apologized. "Sorry man, I'm just upset is all."

"Everything here seems to be doing just fine, so why's the place closing?" Marco gestured around the Bounce Lounge seeing how despite the fact that it was closing soon it seemed pretty active with people. Several were dancing to a song a robot DJ was playing at the moment with others around the floor laying in random beanbags and couches just talking. On the surface everyone seemed happy, everything seemed to be in good repair, and business was usual from the few times he had been there.

"A lot more under the surface than you might think." Marco turned to the voice and blinked seeing a 7 foot tall humanoid hyena of sorts with dreadlocks, what could be described as 'hippie' wear, and oddly enough a blindfold over his eyes. "A lot goes into the buildin of a business in all shapes and forms and it can be difficult to get out of a hole; especially when the previous owner was given half her effort to make it so." Star spoke up slightly happier at seeing the figure.

"Yeah I guess so. Oh Marco this is Fulntrut, a friend of my mom's and one of the main DJ's here at the Bounce Lounge." Marco blinked in confusion with Fulntrut responding.

"I'm also the manager now, for as long as this place is still running. So this is the Marco I've heard so much about eh?" He took off his blindfold revealing dull amber eyes as he scanned Marco up and down. "I must say I like the hoodie getup man, the color red really suits you." Marco chuckled feeling oddly relaxed around the creature he guessed was a Monster from Mewni and asked a question.

"Say, why is this place going out of business?" At that Fulntrut heaved a sigh and began speaking in a wistful tone.

"Well as much as she is admired, Milly Sparkles was not as good a manger as she should have been towards the end thinking she would just demolish the place when she retired. A long string of debts popped up and the Bounce Lounge fell into disrepair leaving it in a failed state. After The War of Moonlight Shadow, nice ring huh, I set up shop here playing my music to spread the love and show Monsters were not savage beasts. When she began getting ready to leave I stepped up to take care of the place which she accepted with a nod and a goodbye. After a lot of work I managed to solve all of the problems, even finally installing a hand rail to keep people from falling in the spike pits around the place." He pointed to railing around the area that kept people from falling into the spike pits just below them.

"I was wondering why no one addressed that." Marco spoke up with Fulntrut nodding before continuing.

"The final problem that was supposed to be addressed was the debt but when I sent the payment they claimed it never got to them. Of course there's no money left to make it again so the debt hounds are coming to repossess the place upon closing tonight. Well that's what I get for trusting Roy to deliver the money but sometimes the times don't go they just end naturally and there's nothing to be done about it. Have fun while you can kids, I still got some work to do before the day is up." He left the group with Ponyhead speaking up.

"Dang that man is deep, especially that final line of his." Marco and Star both glared at Ponyhead who looked at them in confusion. "What, can't I appreciate some philosophy?" Marco groaned shaking his head while Star spoke up rolling her eyes.

"You know what I'm not even going to say it. Oh hey there's Alexis." Star pointed to Alexis who was sitting in a chair with her head in her hands staring at a board full of photos morosely. "Hey Alexis, you heard about…"

"Yeah." Alexis cut Star off with a depressed tone of voice. "It just seems so surreal for it to just be closing down. I mean our parents used to come here for crying out loud but… its happening." Alexis sighed staring at the board with a small smile coming across her face as she picked out photos. "There's one of the time Johnny Blowhole came through and tore the whole place up." She pointed to an image of Rico being thrown into the crowd by a dolphin to bodysurf but only smashed on the floor. "Never really got why Rico tried doing that given how he was literately on fire at the time. Oh here's the time your mom came on the same night we were there and rocked out." Alexis pointed to an image of her Moon on the dance floor wearing a clubber's outfit with her tattoos visible and breakdancing with a crowd cheering her on and an embarrassed looking Star in the background. Star chuckled nervously before speaking.

"Yeah I'm still trying to forget that night actually. Mom's cool but she's not that type of cool." Marco approached an image of Alexis, Rico, Ponyhead, Dennis, Tempest, Kelly, Tad, and Star all taking a party pose.

"Say Star, is this your group. I think I remember them from fighting the cookie monsters." Marco spoke with Alexis speaking up.

"Yep that' us, the 'odd squad' as many people refer to us. Not conventionally cool but cool nonetheless. We practically were royalty here because of our own gains." Alexis looked at Marco smiling as Marco took it in. "We would include you at this point but you know… no Bounce Lounge to party in. Say I like your casual get up, you pull off red incredibly well." Marco blushed slightly smiling at Alexis as Star spoke up.

"*Sigh* If only there was something we could do to help them out. I'd ask my parents for a loan to help this place out but dad is really tight with money and wouldn't give anything up." At this Ponyhead suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up.

"Hey wait a minute, didn't Fulntrut say that 'Roy' was the one delivering the money? That shyster who set up 'Goblin Dogs'." Marco looked around in confusion as Star and Alexis nodded in recognition before their faces got mean with Alexis speaking up.

"I waited in line for two days just to find out he was making them go on indefinitely to attract more customers to his 'special' line so he could sell products! I have no doubt he would rip off this place!" Star's eyes went cat-pupil yellow as she pulled her wand out before growling.

"We should find Roy and get that money back before the loan hounds come to take the place." Marco stepped up trying to calm everyone down.

"Woah woah easy there people. Maybe there was something else that contributed to this. I mean if you think he did it we should find him but we shouldn't just go in guns blazing expecting the worst right?" Everyone looked at Marco deadpan and Ponyhead spoke up.

"You never met Roy have you earth turd?" Marco shook his head as Alexis spoke up.

"Ok, I will get the rest of the gang to provide back up while you three find Roy and give me his location. That little bugger could be hiding anywhere at this point." Alexis pulled out a mobile mirror and began making calls with Marco speaking up.

"Perhaps I should let my parents know where we'll be for today so they don't worry and so your parents won't try to track us down with that scrying spell." Marco nodded to Star who suddenly went meek with her eyes going back to normal green before speaking.

"Yeah that's true. Let's inform the parents and get going."

* * *

Marco cut a portal into his kitchen and looked around seeing his mom and dad looking intently at a rather large book with reddened faces and wide eyes. Marco looked at the book's cover seeing some Mewman writing and ignored it coughing to get his parents attention making them jump slightly looking around. When Marco had gotten their attention he spoke up.

"Um Star and I are gonna be out for the day and won't be back until late. Is that ok with you guys?" Angie and Raphael nodded a little bit too quickly with Angie speaking up.

"Sure Marco, just be sure to keep us updated throughout the day and let us know later if you won't be home for dinner." Marco looked back at the book with his curiosity getting the batter of him.

"What is that?" Angie and Raphael looked at each other blushing slightly with Raphael speaking.

"Oh it's something Estrella's parents gave us as a gift." His smile was a little big making Marco look at them suspiciously as Star poked her head through the portal.

"Hey Marco, is everything go-" Star took one look at the book and immediately went a brilliant crimson despite her grey skin and pulled Marco back through the portal. "NOPE NOPE NOPEITYDOO, I am not going to stick around with parents looking at THAT thing again!"

"Hey Star what giv-" The portal was shut leaving Raphael and Angie chuckling with Angie speaking up.

"Well we've made it clear in the past, I think it's time they acc… hello there?" Angie flipped the book on its side making a folded up page extend downward making them both blush. "Well that looks fun; I hope I'm flexible enough for that. But I do know you are more than 'big' enough for that move." Angie giggled flirtatiously moving in close to Raphael who put his hands around Angie feeling up her waist.

"Want to go 'experiment' my dear?" The two began giggling and kissing while pulling the book with them as they went upstairs.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Marco looked up from a photo he held which showed vehicular hotdog stand of sorts with hundreds of customers around it. "This doesn't look much like how this picture of yours shows it." In front of him was a ruined and rundown version of the mobile food stand flipped upside down with a crying goblin in front of it.

"Pfff, it's the right place alright but it looks like karma has caught up to this triple turd." Ponyhead spoke with a fiery anger as she flew up to the crying goblin and spoke to him. "Yo, tell us where you took the Bounce Lounge's money bitch!" Ponyhead's horn glowed a rainbow color with Star coming up and pointing her wand at the goblin with it glowing as well while speaking furiously.

"And we know you got money for the Bounce Lounge's debt, Fulntrut told us himself." The goblin looked up in fear backing away.

"I don't know where it is ok! I was trying to turn over a new leaf by delivering the funds for Fulntrut but some goons came out and took the money from me claiming I still had a debt to repay and that should cover it! Then to send the message home on what happens to people who don't pay up on time they destroyed everything I had!" The duo stared at him angrily while Marco waited to the side nervously until a voice spoke up.

"Roy is actually speaking the truth for once, that bastard." Everyone turned to see Troblin come from around the other side of the cart with a sad look on his face. "The one time he does genuine business his past comes to haunt him and make things worse." At this Roy began sobbing again and spoke softly.

"Why did I listen to the Goblin Dogs in the first place, they're freaking hotdogs for crying out loud." Troblin went over and begrudgingly comforted Roy as Star and Ponyhead backed off.

"Ok we have no leads on Roy, now what do we do?" Before anyone could even think of answering Star's question Rico's voice was heard not far away.

"You just need to forget about him girl; he's not even worth mourning time after the crap he's put you through!" The trio looked at each other in concern leaving Roy and Troblin at the ruined cart to investigate.

The sound of weapons clashing made the group speed up to look around a random rock outcropping in the desert like landscape to see Rico and Kelly sword fighting. Kelly was pushing forward with a fearsome anger like she was hammering away at brick wall with her sword. Rico on the other hand was just fighting to keep himself from being hurt as he blocked Kelly's strikes. Marco looked to Star and Ponyhead with them looking equally confused as Kelly yelled out.

"I keep on making it up with that hairball and he still keeps doing this to me! Why?!" Rico blocked a few more strikes with Pnyhead speaking up with a sigh.

"Oh boy, Kelly and Tad broke up again. And Rico has to take the hits because she won't direct any of her aggression towards Tad for some reason." Ponyhead flew out yelling at the duo. "Hey yo, hammer time is over, we got bigger problems!" Rico let his guard down looking towards Ponyhead allowing Kelly to get in a solid hit sending him flying.

"Oh gods, Rico!" Kelly immediately dropped her sword and ran over to where Rico landed helping him up with him shaking it off.

"I'm fine girl I'm fine, take harder hits than that when momma's mad at me." He turned towards the trio coming out and smiled. "Hey hopper and party pony, what's with the long… are you the monk dude who fought those cookie raiders with your bare hands?" Marco nodded with Rico flashing him a smile. "Well hoodie boy, I say you pull off that style well." Marco smiled again with Star speaking up.

"Have you guys heard of the Bounce Lounge being closed?" At this Rico and Kelly stared at her for a second before Kelly began screaming in frustration.

"First Tad acting like a manipulative overprotective clingy parent, then the Bounce Lounge is closing, WHAT'S NEXT!?" Ponyhead spoke up at that.

"Oh just that Goblin Dogs is out of business for good if you want a silver lining." Ponyhead smiled with Rico actually chuckling at that.

"He was playing a dangerous game for far too long, it was only a matter of time. So here to invite us to do one last party of sorts?" Star spoke up at this with a hopeful expression.

"Actually we were wondering if we could get the money taken by the gangsters who beat down Roy, who was supposed to deliver debt money for the Bounce Lounge, and use it to save The Bounce Lounge." Everyone looked at Star as she took a few deep breaths. "Man that's a convoluted explanation for our current position." Rico shrugged and leaned up against a rock speaking nonchalantly.

"I think I got a way to get back the funds actually?" Everyone looked at him eagerly with Ponyhead speaking up.

"Of course you do, you got your momma's ability to cut portals right?" Rico chuckled before his face and voice got serious.

"Ehhhh, not really. They keep Tremorfidian crystal to protect anything important from scissor thieves these days so no in and out. If we want to get in this gal we gotta be smooth as silk." Everyone fixed him a strange gaze as he spoke up quickly. "Yes I do realize how weird and wrong that sounds now that I am saying it, anyways. If we wish to do it we need the whole gang here." Marco spoke up at that.

"Alexis is out collecting… what are the other's names again?" Star chuckled and filled in for him.

"Dennis and Tempest were the others. I should contact Kelly and tell her to get here as fast as possible and not to call Tad and we should act fast; we have until the end of today to get the money back." Star pulled out her mobile mirror while Rico looked at Kelly.

"You good for this girl, cause if not there's no shame in…" Kelly cut him off aggressively.

"No, I am not going to lose The Bounce Lounge so come at me bro!" Kelly hit her chest with the others cheering her on and Marco speaking up.

"That's the spirit; so what's the plan?" Rico smiled slicking back his hair and lifting his sunglasses so he was staring at Marco with yellow eyes.

"Oh you're gonna like it… as soon as everyone else is here to get started.

* * *

A portal opened with Chantal DuBois stepping through looking at the tracker in her hand intently as it led right to this spot. Groaning slightly she changed one of the dials so that it took a different means of tracking to reveal her prey was at a different location. Shaking her head she got her oversized kitchen knife out and cut another portal stepping through leaving Angie and Raphael's bedroom with the two of them watching her go from under the covers. Looking at each other in shock and confusion they shrugged and Raphael went back under the covers with Angie's giggling turning into a moan of pleasure.


	56. The Heist Pt 2

**WH: Do you know what is harder then I thought, life and writing this chapter. No matter the next ones I fell are going to be much eaiser so apologies for the 'late' publishing. I'm still on time but I feel late, is that even possible?**

 **SN: Just start the chapter.**

Lights flashed and people made bets in a whirlwind of sin and gambling at the Devil's Casino. Though it was only the early afternoon the activity was still fierce with wealthy patrons going from table to table gambling, drinking, and smoking while chatting about the good life. Amongst them the workers moved diligently about serving people with well-practiced ease overseen by an oddly intimidating individual. A man in a well done purple suit and bow tie wearing white gloves watched over the casino floor with his intent eyes. His most unusual feature was the fact that his head was a literal dice with a sleazy and cunning grin splitting it. He chuckled watching the daily profits roll in knowing he had a lot of tallying to do tonight for debts reclaimed. As he pictured the new Jacuzzi he would be building now that his boss, the devil, was long gone the door to the casino swung open. This was not unusual except for the part where the door men were acting a bit more subservient than usual, which they never did unless they were important individuals. Glancing over he raised an eyebrow at the sight of two kids coming into the casino that he recognized as Rico O'Mally and Princess Lilacia Ponyhead. Officially he was supposed to keep kids out of the casino but if they had money to spend he let all types in; and these children of royalty had plenty to spend. His smile grew warm and inviting as the kids came over with him speaking up.

"Ah and what brings two fine children of the higher ups to this humble establishment?" Rico spoke up in a bit of an exaggerated tone of voice as he gestures to Ponyhead.

"Well The Bounce Lounge be closin down so Ponyhead wanted to check out some other places to hang. I recommended this place and she decided to come along." Ponyhead glanced around and spoke up.

"Hmmmm… there is a lot of action going on here but it doesn't feel like my type of 'vibe' yo." King Dice smiled more invitingly and spoke in a relaxed tone meant to put people at ease.

"Well the nights I am sure are more your 'type' your majesty. In fact I am a little surprised you came during the daytime but you pick when and where you come and go." He smiled as Ponyhead looked with some interest at what people were doing in one area of gambling. "Ah you seem to be interested in the dice game over there; I myself am a real fan of such games naturally." He felt a glimmer of satisfaction as Rico chuckled at the joke with Ponyhead asking him a question.

"What exactly are they doing?" At this King Dice sensed a perfect opportunity to get the kid hooked and potentially for her to invite more people so pressed an advantage.

"Would you like an explanation or a demonstration with you participating?" Ponyhead looked at him in suspicion as he waved a hand in a calming manner. "I know I know leaping in head first may not be your thing…" At this Ponyhead looked almost offended and spoke up.

"I'll have you know I am one to go all in from the outset; livin wild and free YEAH!" Rico chuckled a little nervously at Ponyhead's enthusiasm and spoke up.

"Well it would be best for a test round before we go all in as this is something you can't just back out of." King Dice nodded with a plan forming in his mind as he replied.

"Well come with me and I will show you what that game in particular is." He gestured with Ponyhead and Rico following him as he chuckled internally with glee. 'A perfect set up. All I need to do is get that girl hooked on the stuff and she'll bring her friends. Although I wouldn't hold my breath for that Star girl; she seems a might bit too clearheaded and timid for this environment.'

In a room filled with security screens that showed scenes of the inside of 'The Devil's Casino' what appeared to be a living Domino watched the screens. What was unusual even for the fact that the living Domino was watching was that it appeared to be two individuals stacked up like the numbers on a domino piece. The top one had white gloves and a blue stovepipe hat with the one on the bottom wearing a grey skirt and red heels with a red bow sitting between the two so the top one had a bowtie and the bottom had a hair bow. As the top one watched the screens he deduced the perfect time and pulled a lever from a point of 'win and lose' to 'All games lose' and smiled as multiple people lost simultaneously at some big stages. The one beneath him sighed in annoyance and kicked her heel speaking up.

"Really, you're ok with being stuck here?" The top one shrugged and replied.

"Eh Dot sweetie, we got a job so we might as well enjoy it until people get interested in Pai Gow again. Besides you know what King Dice would have done to us if we weren't willing to do this right?" Dot nodded reluctantly with a screen suddenly blinking. "Oh, a new customer, let's welcome them shall we?" He pulled on another lever to a point marked 'Beginner's luck' and chuckled until the screens started flickering. "Oh…" At this Dot giggled looking up.

"Having problems eh Pip?" Pip growled at this and hit one of the screens causing it to flicker even more before the screens panned out to normal again. "I say, 'King' Dice needs to upgrade his system before it actually breaks or someone takes advantage of it." Pip grunted at that looking at the screens getting the feeling something was… off…

A large monkey wearing a yellow suit and holding cymbals was sitting in a room that held a pile of suitcases and other carrying cases in it. On the pile was a sign that said 'Debt money to be sorted, do not touch. That includes you Hopus Pocus.' The monkey giggled in a stereotypical monkey fashion at nothing and hammered his cymbals together with loud clangs. When he quieted down however a few more clangs occurred just outside the door making him look up. He shrieked eagerly and went to the door before stopping and thinking on how strange it was that something would just be clanging randomly outside of the door. He grew cautious and approached the door slowly reaching up with his foot and opening the door ever so slightly peeking out into a hallway filled with security lasers and cameras. He looked back and forth in confusion across the hallway snapping to the left when he heard some white noise that lasted for a straight 10 seconds. Shrugging in a confused manner he closed the door and turned around to see Star Butterfly standing right behind him holding her wand at him. 'Jelly Bean Hallucination Mist!' A blast of energy hit his face and he blinked in confusion before shrieking at nothing and clanging his cymbals together hopping around. Star chuckled and opened the door with Tempest coming from down the left end of the hallway dodging the lasers effortlessly.

"Why is it that these important things are always guarded by one incompetent idiot?" Tempest spoke up as he came through the door with Star replying as she closed it shrugging.

"Why is it that no one looks up when they hear a strange noise outside their door? Beats me but I'm not questioning it if it gets results." They turned towards the pile of suitcases with Star scanning it with her wand. "Ok, 'Lapis Location Finder'." After a few seconds one case in particular glowed a bright blue with Tempest scooping it up and turning to Star.

"Alright, now let's get moving before…" The door to the room suddenly opened with a giant 8 ball floating in speaking up.

"Came to relive you and make sure that…" He looked around the room with his eyes falling on Star and Tempest while listening to the monkey run around like an idiot. "… well, this is awkward." Star shoot a random blast at him but the 8 ball closed the door quickly with an alarm sounding prompting Tempest to speak up.

"Time to ignore stealth and go for speed hopper, got anything in there?" He motioned in the wand with Star giving him a confident smile.

King Dice watched smiling in a pleased manner congratulating Ponyhead as she won another round of craps. She had taken to the game quite readily and he sensed she would get invested in far more than just that; what's more, if he played this right, he could get some big bucks from the Ponyhead's. He knew the games were fixed for now but he needed some way to get Ponyhead to be invested in this and losing constantly wouldn't help. When he began considering whether he should have Ponyhead lose a few rounds to whet her appetite a buzzing came from his mirror which he groaned reaching down for it. As he held it up to answer Rico seemed to rub the side of his head as if something blew on it and spoke up.

"Say Pony, mind stopping by the snack area real quick before winning another round?" Ponyhead turned on him speaking up.

"Oh HELLLL no, I'm on a winning streak." She strutted around a little making King Dice chuckle as he answered the mirror getting only static. As he scratched his head in confusion he heard Ponyhead speak again. "You know what sure, might as well deal with the tum tum you know." Blinking in confusion he looked up seeing their demeanors had changed very subtly which prompted him to go along with them speaking up.

"Say how about I get you kids one on the house for this time…" He was silenced when an alarm suddenly sounded prompting him to look around in confusion. "… bloody hell?" At this Ponyhead and Rico made a break for it with him focusing in on them with a scowl on his face. "Alright kids, whatever you're doing I ain't…" He was silenced however when a solid blow hit him on the back of the head making him fall to the ground. He looked up to see they were moving away at full speed with whatever had hit him nowhere to be seen. He got up groaning slightly as a stack of living poker chips and the gigantic 8 ball came into the room and approached him nervously. "Let me guess, kids were in the back stealing from us?" As the 8 ball nodded King Dice growled nodding to the stack of poker chips and 8 ball respectively. "Chips Bettigan, Mangosteen; I want every fucking member of this fucking casino after those FUCKING BASTARDS!" He moved over to the dice table flipping it over in anger prompting the three to rush out of the room to secure the casino.

Outside the casino a heavily armored security van was parked close to the door with Kelly standing outside of it dressed in formal attire acting like a bodyguard. Inside Alexis acted as a chauffeur while Dennis was in front of a control panel messing with mirror signals in the area and the security cameras of the casino as best he could with their shoddy jamming equipment. When the doors to the casino suddenly burst open and they saw Rico, Ponyhead, Star, and Tempest running out at nearly the same time Alexis started the van. Kelly reached into her hair and waited until a few more figures came out with her throwing swords at the door. They didn't hit anyone but they did form a barrier that stopped the group out of obstruction and fear long enough for everyone to get into the van. As the van started up and got moving Star spoke up worriedly.

"Where's Marco?!"

"I'm right here." Marco pulled off a covering over his face revealing he was covered in some cloth that acted like a cloaking device keeping him invisible. "Man I'm surprised you guys don't use more of this stuff?" Rico shrugged and spoke nonchalantly.

"It's expensive and you can't fly or grip onto walls or ceilings with that stuff covering your appendages. Alright people let's get moving to the edge of the Tremorfidian barrier so we can cut our way out of here before the heat comes down on us!" Everyone gave out a cheer as the van sped off with Chips Bettigan shooting poker chips at them with some actually hitting hard enough to stick into the outer shell of the armor.

King Dice emerged from the casino furious at the turn of events with his inferiors cowering from him. As he went to yell at them a portal was somehow cut into the air not 10 feet from his location. Looking up in confusion he saw an automaton wearing a formal uniform he recognized from St. Olga's wielding a gigantic kitchen knife stepping through holding what seemed to be a tracking device. He stared at her for a second in shear confusion until he smiled connecting the dots and stepped forward to her with the automaton looking up and speaking.

"Pardon me, but would you be able to inform me of the location of a certain Princess Star Butterfly and Princess Marcia Turdina." He blinked in confusion but nodded and replied.

"I don't know who that second one is but I did see the former just run out of my casino with stolen goods…"

The Odd Squad cheered as they sped out along the confusing patchwork of streets in the so called 'sin city' that the casino was located in. As they did so Marco glanced out the window with something catching his eye that was off. He stopped his cheering and looked out the glass more carefully seeing what appeared to be several vehicles going along a road next to theirs with King Dice at the wheel of one and a certain figure riding some sort of scooter next to his car. Marco blinked in confusion and turned getting Rico's attention.

"Um guys, we have a tail." Ponyhead perked up at this yelling out.

"Paparazzi!?" She moved to the back with Rico speaking up to Alexis.

"Pedal to the metal man!" Alexis sped the vehicle up with Ponyhead opening up the back of the van.

"Don't take any photos please." She strutted as King Dice and the others came up behind them with Star speaking up.

"Ponyhead get back in here and close the door."

"Hiiiii, here I am!" As Ponyhead strutted her stuff DuBois leveled her arm with some sort of gun barrel popping out of the forearm shooting a dart at Ponyhead. "Don't take any… photoos… pleaaaaaase…" Ponyhead immediately got woozy and nearly fell out of the van with Tempest pulling her in and yelling out.

"No more pictures!" Closing the door behind him Rico spoke up.

"Get Ponyhead back up and floating. ETA to exiting the city wide crystal barrier." Dennis spoke up at this one.

"Two minutes and thirty seven seconds sir." Rico smiled and spoke in a confident manner.

"Man your battle stations everyone." At this Alexis slipped out of the driver's seat and joined Rico, Tempest, Dennis, and Kelly with Star looking up at this worried.

"Hey guys, who's driving?!" Alexis turned towards Star speaking up.

"Don't just sit their Star take the wheel." Star immediately began panicking and rubbing her tail.

"I can't drive I'm not old enough!" Marco skootched past her into the seat with a confident smile.

"Move over then princess, time to see if my driving video games have payed for themselves now." Star's panicking immediately got worse as Marco began flicking random switches. "Say what does this thing do?" ( **Lucky Boys Confusion - Hey Driver) watch?v=uz9ICU9cNV0 &t=0s&index=58** Music began playing as the vehicle hit something on the side of the road making the van leap up into the air and roll over coming back upright and continuing to move. Rico smiled and cheered at this speaking to Marco.

"NICE ONE HOODIE!" Everyone cheered him on with Star rubbing her tail as Marco's grin grew panicked.

"Hehehe, I did not think that through."

Marco tried to steer the van with it going up onto a curb running over anything and anyone that got in its way. Some of the items that hit flew over the back of the van hitting the vehicles pursuing them but doing no notable damage; not even to DuBois who only looked annoyed. Rico nodded to Dennis who hit a switch making a load of oil come out from the back of the vehicle coating the road. DuBois seemed to smile at this and flipped onto her feet holding the scooter above her head as she navigated the oil slick. King Dice's vehicle and one other managed to get through but the others were not so lucky crashing into the sides. As DuBois leapt back on her scooter Rico stroked his chin and turned to Dennis.

"I need some intel on that smoking metal girl, I need to know what were up against." Dennis nodded and after a second searching up speaking worriedly.

"Sir, we have a serious problem; Capitan Chantal DuBois, St. Olga Princess Patrol, perfect princess retrieval case record." Everyone immediately turned to a still drugged Ponyhead who was singing a little ditty.

" _Ohhh, I wanna be the friction in your jeeeeans…"_ Marco shock his head as he tried to remain focused on the road.

"Pretending I didn't hear that, I think they're after Star and me considering the state we left St. Olga's in when we were last there." Star nodded letting go of her tail with her eyes going yellow cat-pupiled.

"Let me at this girl." Star moved over to a porthole that was in the van's ceiling and pushed it open with Tempest holding her back.

"No, we can get out of here without doing something like thAT!" Star pulled herself and Tempest out of the hole with Star aiming her wand out behind them.

'Mega Narwhal Blast' Star shot a wave of magic at the remaining vehicles with all of them dodging rather effortlessly. Chips Bettigan shot some chips at her out of King Dice's vehicle which Star blocked with a magic shield. A deflected one however hit Tempest and would have knocked him off except for Star holding onto him with a free hand. As she grabbed onto Tempest Marco had to swerve widely to avoid a collision nearly throwing them both off with Rico grabbing onto them to hold them in place. As that happened Dennis hit another switch dropping off some spikes from the sides that didn't seem to impact the pursuing vehicles at all making him groan in frustration. Rico, with help from Alexis and Kelly, finally was able to pull Star and Tempest back into the van collapsing into a heap with Rico speaking up at Dennis.

"Weapons status." Dennis worked his control panel and spoke up worriedly.

"All we have are a few perfume bombs for some reason, did someone take our other equipe…" Everyone looked at Ponyhead again who was giggling at nothing still drugged from the tranquilizer.

Kelly spoke up, "I swear that pony is going to be the end of us." At this the third pursuing vehicle had pulled up alongside them with a human sized cigar driving it and three living alcohol glasses who looked tipsy holding up sticks of dynamite. "Dynamite… who just has dynamite on them?" Marco glanced up from the wheel and spoke.

"That is what you find odd?" As the alcohol glasses laughed getting ready to throw Alexis opened the side window with Tempest and Star shot blasts of magic out of it to knock the car onto another street. At this the cigar began yelling at the glasses with a conversation emerging.

"Throw it out the window. Throw it OUUUUT!"

"But innocent people could be hurt."

"Throw it out the window!"

"It'll send the wrong message to children."

"THROW IT OU-" At this the dynamite exploded destroying the car and scattering the glasses with the cigar skidding to a stop before collapsing into a pile of ash. "OOOOOOOOHHHHHH."

As they left him swearing behind them Tempest and Rico pulled out what appeared to be a video game console and turned it on. As it activated they began shooting the perfume bombs at King Dice and Dubois trying to get a good hit. However Chips Bettigan began shooting back at them disabling their perfume launchers with Rico and Dennis looking frustrated at this. Alexis popped open the hatch and began pulling a whack a mole throwing swords at the pursuers with Kelly providing the swords. After a few throws Alexis began focusing on Dubois and actually hit her scooter but Dubois did a spectacular leap and jumped off of another sword Alexis had thrown in her eagerness. These allowed her to land and attach herself onto the side of the van. Alexis went to throw another sword but Rico pulled her down from a chip that would have taken off her head. With a blank look Alexis spoke in a shocked calm manner.

"I almost died to a poker chip." Rico growled in frustration and hit something on the floor speaking up.

"We need more speed; time to fire up the mana reactor." At this Star spoke up panicked again.

"Wait, this thing has a mana reactor!?" Marco glanced back at the green glowing device not knowing what it was and considering everyone was nervous now he became nervous. As he accidentally ran over a hotdog stand Dennis spoke up.

"Rico it's not ready. The control rods will have to be calibrated, and don't even ask me about the magic-238 blanket!" As Dubois got the roof looking into the van Rico shrugged and hit the button with a quick.

"Ok then." The vehicle sped forward leaving King Dice in the dust with DuBois holding on desperately for a few seconds before being thrown off by the speed.

"Ok Marco, you can slow down now." Star called out to Marco and he replied in a desperate voice.

"Ummmm, I can't; there's no brakes." Everyone immediately looked to Dennis with Rico asking.

"No breaks?" Dennis shrugged with Rico smiling. "Well way to commit my man." As the vehicle continued to speed up everyone realized they were at the edge of a construction zone with road running out fast with Tempest speaking up.

"Um just a suggestion, but anyone who does not want to run off that there drop off say Aye." Everyone immediately began screaming Aye in fear holding onto each other until a timer beeped with Rico perking up.

"We've gotten out of crystal range. Hold on people!"

He immediately cut a hole in the air with flaming scissors and leapt through it appearing at the edge of the construction zone directly in their path. Pausing a moment to show off he then cut a bigger one that the van ran through disappearing before it could fall off the road's edge. Smiling at the horrified construction workers he did twin finger guns before backing through the portal closing it behind him. As the workers recovered King Dice pulled up in front of the construction site listening to his mirror for a second before hanging up and speaking to Chips Bettigan. **(end music)**

"Time to go home. Turns out we lost more assets pursuing them then they stole and I'm not too keen about going head to head with royals." Chips nodded as they turned around and drove back. "But if I catch them in this town again you bet your ass I will teach them a lesson on what happens to people who humiliate me."

Meanwhile Dubois got up from her tumble shaking her head and looking around in exasperation and pulled out her tracking device. After looking at it a few seconds she nodded and cut another portal leaping through.

The van skidded to a stop not far from where the Goblin Dogs food truck was wrecked, with Troblin and Roy looking up in shock, with everyone breathing heavily. The back doors opened with everyone immediately rushing out of them to 'safety' with Star immediately leaping onto the ground hugging it and speaking.

"Oh stable ground, I missed you so much." Everyone chuckled as they straightened themselves out still woozy from their ride with Rico speaking up.

"Well that could've been worse." As if to insult him two portal cuts were made and DuBois stepped through the portal looking in better shape than they were despite her rough treatment. "…" He glances at everyone who is looking at DuBois in shock. "Oh you've got to be joking."

"No jokes here." DuBois focused down Marco in her gaze. "Princess Marcia Turdina, you are being taken into custody of the St. Olga Princess retrieval board; do not resist." Everyone got into a fighting stance with Star leaping in front of them and shot a spell at DuBois 'Spider in a Top Hat!' A smallish spider leapt out of the wand confusing everyone for a second before his hat turned into a Gatling gun with the spider shouting.

"WAR CRYYYYYYY!"

DuBois leapt back in a Matrix style move dodging and twirling her knife in front of her blocking the bullets she didn't dodge. Everyone watched as this continued for about a minute until the spider seemingly ran out of bullets with only a handful having so much as scraped her. The group looked at each other in shock for a second before charging in unison. DuBois acted with swift grace dodging magical shots to body slam Alexis into Dennis knocking them both back into the van so hard the doors shut behind them. Kelly began throwing swords in rapid succession but all she managed to do was rip Marco's hoodie as DuBois dodged them. Before she could apologize DuBois scooped her up and threw her at Tempest who dived to dodge her leaving him close enough for DuBois to grab him and throw him into Star. Marco leapt to hit her but his karate chop just bounced off of her leaving him holding his hand in pain. As she shot out a net from the gun barrel in her arm pinning Marco down Rico lit a flame above his head making four copies of him appear with all of them holding what seemed to be a detached half of a scissor in each hand.

"Why fight one bloke when you can fight five baby girl." The five spoke in unison charging at DuBois who engaged in close combat.

Star got up groaning as she pushed off Tempest looking for her wand but couldn't find it. She stopped when the sounds of fighting stopped however making her look up to see a badly damaged DuBois tossing aside a badly hurt Rico and moving towards Marco. Marco struggled to get out of the net but DuBois picked him up in one hand holding him up clenching tightly around his neck. An image of DuBois ripping off Marco's head flew through her head and her vision went green. Star felt her body move on its own as she ran up behind DuBois grabbing onto her head with her hands, wrapped her legs around DuBois's midsection, and yanked up screaming.

"LEAVE MARCO ALONE!" Ripping DuBois's head off in one swift motion she threw the head aside.

Everything seemed to stand still for a moment and then DuBois's body collapsed dropping Marco whom Star ran over and pulled the net off of him. When she had finished pulling she grasped Marco in a hug which he returned greedily as they sat there ignoring the world. After a few minutes movement pulled them out of their reverie with everyone else getting up as best they could. After a few minutes of making sure they were ok and Star finding her wand everyone looked at each other and began chuckling again with Rico speaking.

"Well that could've…" Tempest shot him with magic speaking quickly.

"Let's just go back to the Bounce Lounge please."

The stereotypical looking lawyer went through the last stack of bills counting each and every single bill with a trained eye. Nearby Fulntrut watched him lounging back in an old easy chair while the 'odd squad' waited nervously nearby on the results. They were back at the Bounce Lounge in Fulntrut's 'office', to put it loosely, and had arrived just in time for the debt collector to arrive and mark the Lounge for repossession since no payment had been made. For the last half-hour he had been going through every single bill while listening to what had happened with the money offering no comment aside from confirming the money was in fact legally Fulntrut's. After he went through the last stack he turned to Fulntrut and spoke in a no-nonsense clipped voice.

"The money is in order but there is an issue. Due to the how late the payment is being received and how it was not properly delivered there is a fee attached to your debt at this point." Everyone in took breath at this with Fulntrut responding with a silent nod knowing he had no money to offer at this point.

"Alright, how much?"

"$650."

"Got it!" Everyone looked over at Marco who held up $650 in a single stack and presented it to the debt collector who only offered a raised eyebrow before responding.

"Hmmmmm…" He looked at the tap holding the bills together and tasted it before nodding. "Everything is in order then. The debt has been officially paid off and to you I bid good day." Then without another word he cut open a portal and disappeared before everyone could let out the breath they were holding.

"Well that was convenient." Alexis spoke up getting everyone's attention. "Frankly I've had a long enough day dealing with gangsters and robot bounty hunters, how about we tear up the floor in a good way instead of the bad way." Everyone gave out a cheer and filed out but Marco was stopped by Fulntrut who nodded to him speaking softly.

"Thank you. You have very little history with this place yet you risked and offered so much." Marco shrugged and replied matter-of-factly.

"This place means a lot to Star and her friends as well as actually being a good place to just hang." Fulntrut chuckled and nodded to a picture on the side of his office that made Marco double take.

The picture was another group photo of younger versions of River, Bonibell, Fulntrut, King Ponyhead, Buff Frog, Helsinki, and several figures he didn't recognize (Heckapoo, Rhombulus, Omnitraxus Prime, Lily Forest, as well as two other figures. One was green skinned three eyed humanoid female with purple streaked black hair and twisting horns with a set of short wings coming from her back. The other was a lanky green bird man that looked like Dennis except a bit more bulked up and regal.) In the center of the photo however was a young Moon, Star being eerily similar in appearance aside from the skin and eyes, hugging Toffee and kissing his cheek. Marco blinked in appreciation and turned towards Fulntrut who smiled at him warmly and responded.

"This place means far more to those kids then you might think. Now get going and Parrrtay hoodie boy." Marco chuckled and ran out thinking to himself 'Is that just going to be the term for me now, hoodie boy?'

Miss Heinous had finished going through the ruined mansion and had collected everything of value that could be used. She sighed rubbing her eyes at how far she had fallen, to the point where she was scavenging like a rat for supplies. She looked up into a mirror to see her cheeks were becoming visible again making her groan in frustration at how things were going. A knock at the door startled her making her take a moment to compose herself as she turned towards the door and called out.

"Come in." The door opened to reveal Gemini who was carrying several boxes as he shuffled into the room setting them down on the table. "Ah I see you've gotten my hair dye and food. But I must ask what this is?" She pointed to a box that was completely covered making Gemini shrug as he replied.

"Not sure, it was delivered to me by a certain 'Troblin' who found it in the middle of a random wasteland saying it was meant for us but we wouldn't like it." Heinous shrugged and went to open it.

"Well that's just another thing to frustrate my day unfortunately." When she opened it she whooped in shock as she saw DuBois's head in it flickering slightly. "Captain Chantal DuBois?" The head flickered to life as it replied in a defeated tone.

"I am sorry… for the very first time I have failed you in the hunt." Gemini and Heinous looked at each other in shock before Heinous got a determined look on her face and spoke with savage fury.

"No matter, guess I will just have to do the deed myself with you and Gemini. We will find the brats and annihilate them." Her cheek marks fluctuated slightly with DuBois asking Gemini.

"How long until I can be rebuilt?" Gemini glanced around uncomfortably before shrugging eliciting a sigh from DuBois.

 **Well that was a nice break what's next? *see's what I have planned* Ohhh, a mixture of drama and comedy... I think. Well it's time to resolve some issues in multiple ways at a band concert. Up next we got some 'Boy Band Blues'.**


	57. Boy Band Blues Pt 1

**Well this one is one I've been looking forward to writing for a while. No jokes this time people, let's just get into it.**

Star skipped along in cheery mood through the school towards Jackie's locker while humming a 'Love Sentence' song under her breath. As she got close to her locker Star saw Jackie close up and go to leave but stopped when Star called out to her.

"Heeeeeyyyyyy."

"Oh hey Star, what's up?" Star smiled broadly and pulled out two tickets holding them out for Jackie to see making her go wide eyed; an impressive feat considering Jackie's eyes were always half-open. "Are those Love Sentence tickets for tomorrow?" Star nodded eagerly speaking fast.

"I got them on a bargain deal and was wondering if you wanted to come with me. I heard you're a Love Sentence fan, unlike most of my other friends, and thought this would be a great chance to see them." Star smiled broadly and eagerly at Jackie as a look of confusion came across her face.

"Of course I'll come with you, but I thought you would go to Marco first?" Star sighed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Well I did but I heard he had plans with Tom for that night and couldn't go with me." At this Jackie perked up again.

"Say how is Tom doing?" At Star's nervous fidgeting Jackie pulled back a little. "Oh yeah you probably don't ask much about him, sorry I…" Star held up a hand before responding.

"He's doing fine according to Marco. And don't worry about me and him, Marco claims he's calmed down quite a bit so I'm not worried about those two spending time with each other." Jackie smiled at Star and grabbed her in a hug which Star returned calming down. "Mmmmm, your hugs are almost as good as Marco's." Jackie chuckled and pulled away smiling slyly at Star and spoke in a teasing tone.

"I wonder why his are the best?" She winked as Star blushed slightly. "See you tomorrow night." Jackie jumped on her skateboard and went off with Star caught between elation and embarrassment thinking about Marco's hugs ***Throb*.**

* * *

Star and Marco turned on their toothbrushes and brushed while listening to Love Sentence. As the music started from their toothbrushes Star started out with lip-synching into the brush like it was a microphone.

 _"It was no secret, the way that we feel."_ Marco spoke up with them alternating.

 _"A love that's so pure, a love that is real."_

 _"Showed me your world and it felt like a sign."_

 _"You acted too slow and you ran out of TIIIIIIIMMME!"_ The both spat into their sinks with the brushes turning off and Marco speaking up.

"Say Star, did you hear about the Love Sentence concert tomorrow?" Star nodded eagerly. "Well I'm taking Tom there to see his first live concert. Oh man this is going to be life changing for him I know it." Star blinked at him in shock and spoke up.

"What a coincidence. I was just about to tell you that I was taking Jackie there as I knew you were busy with Tom." Marco began laughing at the coincidence with Star joining him. "Well guess we will both be seeing the concert then." Marco then snapped his fingers with an idea in his head.

"Say Star, what if our two groups went together?" Star blinked in shock as Marco continued. "I mean it would be one of Tom's first times going out with a major group of friends, he would be over joyed at that." He then saw Star cross her arms and take a miffed expression towards him. "What, this would be a great experience for Tom Star. If you're not comfortable with him we can always go…" When Star began tapping her foot Marco got really confused. "… what?" Star raised an eyebrow before speaking.

"Are you hoping to get back together with Jackie?" At this Marco blushed and shook his head violently.

"No, nu uh, I am over Jackie at this point. I am doing this just for Tom." Star's expression and stance did not change in the slightest as Marco continued. "Look if you don't think it's a good idea you can just say no you know." Star's stare finally made Marco crack. "Why would you think I'm trying to get back together with Jackie?!"

"You danced sadly for four days straight; I get you were after her for literal years and she meant a lot to you but considering what was needed to bring you out of your slump it was ridiculous." As Marco slumped his shoulders and leaned against the counter sighing Star softening up. "I know you still miss Jackie Marco so I don't want you to be torn at all about these things. Also, I'm still a bit worried about how Tom will react around me." Marco nodded going to answer but Star cut him off. "So that's why we should go as a group, to establish we are all just friends." Marco saw Star rub her tail a little with his protective instincts kicking in.

"You sure?"

"About as sure as I am that we should not go back to the cats with human faces dimension." Star smiled as a look of horror crossed Marco's face.

"Seriously, I'm trying to forget about that time." Star giggled and skipped out of the bathroom.

"See you tomorrow night." Star left Marco to wrestle with his repressed memories as she went to bed.

* * *

Marco smiled as Tom emerged from his carriage waving to Marco and running across the grass to grab him in bear hug. Marco found it odd that Tom was all touchy feely with him occasionally but he accepted it with nothing more than a smile and hugged Tom back speaking up.

"Hey Tom, how's hell?" Tom chuckled and responded non-chalantly as they pulled away from each other.

"Oh you know a little dark, a little fiery, a little gloomy, and as always *hey* full of dead people what are you gonna do." Tom then saw Star come out of the house and immediately looked away from her trying not to make eye contact. "So you got the tickets?" Marco smiled holding them aloft.

"Do I ever, this is gonna be awesome." The two danced side by side for a second until Jackie came up on her skateboard speaking up.

"Hey guys. Oh Tom, what are you doing here?" Jackie really perked up at Tom making Marco feel some sudden jealousy that he was the first person Jackie noticed with Tom perking up as he replied.

"Going with Marco to see my first live Love Sentence concert, this is gonna be awesome." Tom did an air guitar motion with Jackie giggling at him before responding.

"What a coincidence, Star and I are going too." Marco spoke up at this stuttering a little bit.

"About that, I talked with Star about this and was wondering… if you two would like us all… to go as a group." Jackie smiled and nodded eagerly with Tom glancing at Star sideways before replying.

"I don't know… are you guys really ok with that?" Star leapt in now speaking quickly.

"Of course we are, it's just a group of kids going to a concert together right?" Marco saw Star shoot Tom a few daggers from her eyes as a warning before continuing. "I even got us T-shirts." Star waved her wand making a t-shirt appear on her over her dress.

The white shirt showed the title Love Sentence buddies over four faces which was each one of their own all caught up singing along with something but the way it was designed made it look like they were singing very badly. Marco's was red and made him look drunk, Jackie's with turquoise and made her look stoned, Star's was grey and made her look crazy happy, and Tom's was pink making him look … 'Lustful is only way I can put it.' Marco thought kind of unnerved by the shirt. Star giggled and poofed one on each person over their clothes making Jackie smile at hers, Marco chuckle at his, and Tom gasp for breath as his was too tight.

"Soooooo, what do you guys think?" Marco glanced at Tom in worry as his definitely looked too tight but Tom answered Star with a smile.

"Just… fine Star. I love it." Jackie looked at Tom in concern speaking up.

"Say Tom that looks a little…"

"Awesome on me, of course." Tom cut Jackie off making her blink in concern with Star speaking up again.

"I also got us skateboards since we were going so early so we could take our time." Star waved her wand and poofed up skateboards for her, Marco, and Tom smiling at everyone. "Well come on, let's get moving." Tom smiled getting on his skateboard and attempting to skate with Marco and Jackie shrugging getting on theirs and skating. As they got moving Marco turned to Jackie and began talking to her.

"I didn't know you were a fan of Love Sentence." Jackie chuckled and responded lightly as they skated not even looking at Marco.

"Tom actually introduced me to it. It's weird, I don't usually like boy bands but this one is just up my alley for some reason." Marco smiled at that feeling a pang of insecurity that he had never thought of that. "So I didn't know you two became such close friends, when did that happen?" Marco chuckled rubbing the back of his head replying softly.

"Well he decided to use me to pass the final test for his Anger Management class and we bonded during that time; in fact bonding over Love Sentence initially. Turns out we have a lot in common and just became friends, since then we've talked a bit but this is only the third time hanging out since then." Jackie finally looked at Marco smiling at him with Marco smiling back until they heard Tom stumble a good distance behind them. The two looked back to see Tom was having trouble moving forward with Jackie commenting on it.

"Odd, he's a good skater so he should be keeping up with us. Hey Tom you ok?" Tom gave them a thumbs up as he continued trying to skate up with them. "Say Star I think the shirt you gave him is too small, could you make it bigger or give him a different one?" Star blinked in confusion at this speaking up.

"What do you mean, he seems find." At this Marco finally turned towards Star with a raised eyebrow speaking up.

"Star, I think you gave him a shirt that was too small and he doesn't want to speak up about it for some reason. Would you mind just changing his shirt size?" Star turned towards him with an innocent expression on her face which annoyed Marco slightly. "Star, please." Star nodded to him and called out to Tom.

"Ok Tom, I'm gonna just give you a bigger shirt as Marco claims yours might be too small and its holding you…"

"No I'm good, don't worry about…" As Tom cut Star off he was cut off by hitting a bump in the sidewalk and being forced out onto the street. "Oh shit." Tom spoke in calm manner as a truck was coming at him.

Jackie reacted quickly and threw her skateboard, something Marco and Star knew she would never do lightly, at Tom pushing him out of the way but sending him careening backwards at a fast rate and crushing Jackie's skateboard under the trucks wheels. The hill was sloped downwards in that direction so naturally he began picking up speed with Tom doing a halfway noise between screaming and gasping. Star and Marco immediately took off after him with Jackie getting on Star's board to accompany them. Tom tried controlling the skateboard but constricted by his shirt and going backwards made in next to impossible for him to do so. He hit the edge of the curb and nearly collided with a pregnant mother who had a baby on her back with her giving him nothing more than a confused glance before muttering 'kids these days'. Tom made the halfway screaming noise again as he hit a drain bouncing him into the air and by chance going over a group of kids playing hopscotch landing on his board again. "Cool, a skater from hell!" Tom tried steering the board around a random old lady who was walking up the sidewalk but only served to spin the board around hitting a garbage can. Flying through the air with his halfway scream as loud as it could go he fell landing square on a duck with her three ducklings. As he laid on top of the ducks a small crowd gathered around him with his too tight shirt finally ripping open allowing him to gasp at air. The trio of friends pulled up with Jackie immediately running up and kneeling down next to Tom speaking.

"Tom, are you ok?!" Tom raised his head up slightly looking at Star with a guilty look on his face as he spoke.

"Sorry for destroying your shirt Star." At this Star got a guilty look on her face and began rubbing her tail.

* * *

At a local medical center Star, Jackie, and Marco waited for the results on whether Tom and the ducks were going to be alright. Marco glanced over to see Star having an unusually guilty look on her face even considering she blamed herself for a lot of things. Glancing at Jackie he saw she had a rather expressive concerned face that gave him another pang of jealousy. 'Marco, you and Jackie are through, stop getting jealous that she is concerned about Tom; you're concerned as well right?' Marco thought to himself feeling a different pang, this one of guilt and remorse about things he had done in the past. When the three were called up he shook his head joining Star and Jackie as they went back to see Tom who was sitting up looking a little sore but fine. He smiled at them and got to the ground speaking up.

"See, I'm all good people, no need to worry." At this the nurse spoke up in an oddly militarized voice.

"Correct, Tom is going to be alright with adequate skating lessons and adequate clothing." She pulled up a box holding the ducklings who were peeping noisily. "The ducks are going to be fine as well." Star immediately rushed up and picked up the ducklings holding them close like stuffed animals. "The skateboard however didn't make it." The nurse then put Jackie's now shattered skateboard up on the counter which Jackie nodded to solemnly before speaking.

"You were a good skateboard man, rest well." She looked up at Tom and smiled sweetly at him. "I'm just glad you're ok man." Tom smiled back at her with Star catching the look going on between them. Worried she turned to Marco only to find he wasn't there and turned to the nurse asking her a question.

"Say, do you know where Marco went?" The nurse shrugged and commented.

"Something about going to the bathroom."

* * *

Marco moved to the side of the building out of easy site of people and took a deep breath as confusing emotions washed over him again. A mixture of guilt over what he had put Star through trying to keep his relationship with Jackie going and when they had broken up conflicted horribly with a sad bitterness that he had not done enough things or the right things to keep the relationship going. 'Maybe Star is right, maybe I do want to get back together with Jackie despite the fact it didn't work.' This hit him particularly hard as he remembered what Tom had just gone through as a result of his insistence of going as a group and how uncomfortable Star and Tom seemed to be with each other. He sighed knowing there was one man he respected above all else, even more than his sensei, that he could talk to get some straight facts from. The problem was how he would react upon hearing what he had done to Star in the past to keep up a failed relationship with Jackie. Marco sighed again pulling out his hand held mirror and spoke to it.

"Call Toffee." As the mirror rang for a second Toffee answered it wearing what seemed to be a purple sweater vest and a white shirt blinking at Marco in concern.

"I say Marco, is something going on with Star?" Marco rubbed the back of his head taking another deep breath before speaking.

"Do you know… about an incident… between me and Star…"

"Involving a field trip where you used her as an unwilling distraction to get with Jackie only for her to breakup with you later?" Marco nodded and blinked in shock and panic as Toffee seemed almost eager to talk about it in not so good a way. And considering how emotive Toffee was, even when Star was sobbing from her incident at Brittany's party, this made Marco really concerned. "Well Star asked me not to approach you about it but she said nothing if you approached me about it." Toffee leaned back in a chair fixing Marco with a small but predatory smile. "Well, I'm waiting." Marco inhaled and exhaled throwing out as much nervousness as he could before speaking.

"Toffee… am I a douche?" Toffee was so taken back by the question that his smile melted away with him nearly standing up in shock. "I mean, that wasn't the ONLY incident of something like that happening." Marco filled in Toffee on multiple other small incidents of getting Star to help him out with Jackie, how he got involved in the Blood Moon Ball, as well as how he acted when Star tried getting him out of his depressed break up slump. He also filled in Toffee on what was going on that day and how he was worried that he may be forcing people to cooperate and making them uncomfortable due to some selfish motivations on his part that Marco may or may not even be aware of. "I mean, those are only things a selfish douche would do right?" Marco waited with baited breath as Toffee possessed all of the information Marco gave him seemingly comparing it to other stuff he had heard of in the past. "By the way, I'm calling you because... I know you will give me the truth and… I respect you sir." Toffee looked at Marco with a strangely conflicted look on his face before he began speaking.

"Note Marco, I was not in those situations only getting information from others and I have never gone through those situations in exactly the same way myself so my judgement may be skewed. I also am Star's father so that takes out a good deal of indifference to the situation so take those facts into account." Marco nodded as Toffee continued. "Marco, I find you to be rather childish in the worst way." Marco nodded dumbly as Toffee continued. "The way you wanted to be a 'bad boy' was childish, the way you approached your relationship with Jackie was childish, the way you took advantage of my daughter was childish, the way you handled the breakup was childish, and the way you're beating yourself down for what has happened is the way a five year old would react to this. Of course, what was I expecting when I asked you to guide Star on earth." Marco winced at the final comment as, while not explicit, Toffee was basically saying he was disappointed in Marco. "Do you understand what I am saying boy?" Marco nodded silently and slumped to the ground leaning against the building.

"You're… *sigh* 100% right sir." Toffee was about to speak again but stopped at the defeated tone in Marco's voice. "I'm just a selfish child who pushed people around through pleadings and threw a tantrum when things didn't go my way." He then pulled his hoodie's hood up over his head hiding his face. "I am a douche and maybe… someone else would have been better as Star's guide." Toffee felt sympathy for the boy soften his voice as he spoke again.

"Marco, you do realize why I am telling you all this right?" Marco sighed as Toffee continued not waiting for an answer. "It's because in order to improve yourself you need to actually LEARN from your mistakes. I know my daughter has forgiven you for what you did and has told you to forgive yourself but that doesn't mean you should FORGET what you have done." Marco looked up with tears in his eyes as Toffee continued. "If you remember what you have done wrong and actually improve from them I dare say you would make a decent man or better." Marco blinked in confusion as Toffee continued. "To answer your actual question from the start I have met with douches, I have worked with douches, douches have flirted with my wife knowing I was in the room and was married to her; you my boy are not a douche." Marco blinked with hope in his eyes as he spoke up.

"Really?" Toffee outright chuckled taking Marco off guard as he thought Toffee wasn't one to laugh.

"My boy if you didn't deserve forgiveness I don't deserve it. When Moon and I were young and had first met as princess and tutor I was an emotionless entity who sought to manipulate her gentle heart into providing a better future for Monster-kind. What happened you may ask? After a pre-planned outburst of mine she ran off into the Forest of Certain Death distraught with guilt and would have been eaten by a gigantic plant if I hadn't saved her. My boy I have more of a right to be called a douche then you do." Marco actually found himself chuckling alongside Toffee as he continued. "But I constantly remind myself of that day to be sure I never pull a move even remotely like that unless if I have no other options." Marco nodded knowing that being a king required people to make difficult choices that could produce bad consequences no matter what at times. "Honestly your good attributes outclass your bad ones 10 to 1. You are reliable, you are organized, you are mature when it comes to MOST things, you place Star's well-being very highly, and you are willing to put your own life on the line when there is little to no reward for you if it concerns friends. Most importantly is the fact that when you came to me about this, despite what I might have done to you since I am Star's father, you showed how you are brave enough to own up to your actions. If you were not that good I would have recalled Star back home long ago." Marco felt a warm glow spread through him under Toffee's praise and smiled at that. "A man who is willing to face down not one but two shadows with no reliable way to fight them just to protect my daughter is far from a douche, Sir Shadow Slayer." Toffee raised his eyebrow smiling slightly at Marco in a warm way as Marco blushed. "So, go back to your friends and figure out with them what is truly the best course of action for your evening. I have faith in you, for now." Marco nodded standing up inadvertently taking a pose with a determined smile on his face.

"I won't let you down your majesty." Toffee nodded to Marco as they hung up with Marco feeling more at ease then he had for weeks and knew exactly what he needed to do.

 ***psst, I altered the oneshot 'Birth of The Star' by adding in some music. Go take a look. ;)***


	58. Boy Band Blues Pt 2

Marco went up to the edge of the concrete basin that held a stream running through it that the doctor had told him his friends had gotten off to. He looked down to see Tom approaching the ducklings that were in a box with Jackie standing by him seemingly lending moral support. Star watched from the land side of the duo a little nervously while the momma duck watched from the river side with predator eyes. Marco smiled at the scene hearing Tom try to talk to the ducklings but his smile fell when the ducklings cowered into a corner cheeping in terror. Momma duck reacted to that and flew up to Tom biting him on the nose making Tom step back cursing and swatting at the duck on his nose. Star immediately leapt forward pulling the box back behind her and pointed her wand at Tom hissing defensively with Jackie pulling the duck off of Tom as best she could. Marco made to leap off of the side to the water's edge in case if Tom snapped but froze when Tom backed away from the group slowly until he turned and walked away with his head down. Marco slid down the side bank to where Star was and put his hand on her arm lowering her wand while speaking to her.

"Easy there Star, Tom has complete control over himself right now." Star shook her head with her going from cat-pupil yellow to their normal green and spoke softly.

"I… yeah he's ok." Star shook her head again turning back to the ducklings and picking them up out of the box. "Don't worry little guys he's not to going to hurt you." Marco smiled and looked up in concern as he saw Jackie move towards Tom who was now sitting under a bridge with his back to them.

"Um Star," Marco got Star's attention making her look up. "I need to talk with everyone in the group about something. Do you mind if we…" He gestured towards Tom with Star nodding slightly and sighing as she accompanied him. As they got close they heard Jackie speaking with Tom.

"Dude, everything ok?" Tom sighed and rumpled something in his hands Marco recognized as his shirt Star gave to him.

"You guys should go on without me; I'll only slow you down." He held up the shirt towards himself showing everyone behind his back that it was conveniently torn over Tom's face. "I destroyed your board, tore Star's shirt, and traumatized a family of ducklings; and that was just me going about normally. I just ruin everyone's fun and destroy everything I touch." Marco glanced over at Star who he saw was holding the ducklings close to her like stuffed animals with a look of conflicted sadness on her face.

"Look dude don't worry about the skate board, my uncle owns the company that makes those things." Marco blinked at Jackie's words realizing he never known that despite how often they had hung out. "Star's shirt was too small for you so I'm only surprised that it took this long to tear." They glanced up at Star who nodded looking to the side a bit guilty. "Also Tom, I enjoy talking to and hanging out with you even if no one else does cause you're a pretty chill guy now that the little demons are disappearing and you have control over yourself." Jackie pushed back her hair revealing her ear had six piercings in it, two were safety pins and one was through the ear twice, again showing Marco something he had never noticed about Jackie until now. "I mean that duck bit your nose and you didn't light up; that's progress man." Marco chuckled nodding at that as Jackie turned back towards the ducks. "But I do think you still owe these guys an apology man." Tom nodded and sighed moving to the momma duck and kneeling on the ground looking at her beady eyes with nervousness before speaking.

"So… yeah… sorry about that. I know I didn't have control at the time… but… that's no excuse. I should… be more careful and considerate of others… when I act. So it's ok if you don't, you know, understand and all that but… just know that I'm sorry." As Tom stumbled over his words the duck's look seemed to go neutral as she stared at Tom.

The ducklings began cheeping prompting Star to put them down where they rushed to their mother's side staring up at Tom as well. As everyone watched this odd stare off the momma duck gave a single solitary quack at Tom and waddled over to the river jumping in. The ducklings peeped at Tom a little before following their momma and began swimming downstream with everyone watching them go. After a minute of this Jackie turned towards Tom and put her hand on his shoulder smiling at him warmly with Tom speaking up.

"So… where do you think they've gotten off to?" Jackie giggled and replied.

"Oh most likely some marsh where they can live without anyone dropping in on them from the sky." Tom chuckled at that with Marco chuckling along getting Tom's attention making him speak up.

"Oh Marco, didn't see you get here." Marco chuckled rubbing the back of his head slightly before replying.

"Yeah, finally got back. Also I've been thinking and I want your honest answers here… are you guys really ok with going as a group to the concert?" He looked at Tom and Star in particular with a serious face. "Because you guys seemed hesitant to go as a big group because if you're not ok just say so." Star seemed to be hanging her head to conceal her face while Tom looked at Star nervously before speaking up.

"Well I just don't want to impede anyone man and… you know…" He nodded towards Star with Jackie and Marco both nodding in acknowledgement at what happened between the two in the past. "If everyone is ok with me I'm good but if not…" Tom was cut off by a small sob coming from Star's direction making everyone focus on her.

"Tom?" Star dropped her wand on the ground and, with her head still pointed down, stepped up until she was right next to Tom. "I… guess you've come… pretty far huh?" Tom gulped at this nodding with Jackie and Marco watching in tense silence as Star took a deep breath. "I was… hesitant despite what… everyone was saying about you. But… after seeing all this… I guess I should say…" Star inhaled and exhaled deeply and shakily. "I forgive you Tom for what you did to me." Tom stared at Star almost awestruck as Star looked up with blueish-green eyes that had tears in them. "I… miss you Tom. You were a great friend and… I want that friend back but… I'm still not sure if it's really you…" Tom nodded speaking in a quiet voice.

"I get it Star; I hope I regain your trust enough for that. *sigh* Awkward reconciliation friend hug?" Tom began reaching out but stopped mid-stretch. "No wait, maybe too soon for…" Star immediately began crying and reached out grabbing Tom into a hug that made Tom's bones creak. "*Gahhhh* Star, too tight too tight!"

"Sorry!" Star immediately lessened her grip with Tom returning the hug.

Marco smiled at this and looked to Jackie who was also smiling at this and nodding to Star with what looked like respect. They stood there by the creek for a few minutes until Tom and Star backed away from each other with Tom speaking up with a nervous smile.

"If it's not too much trouble with you I'd like to say this is going to stay platonic no matter what. Looking back on it I just don't think it would have worked out as strange as it may sound." Everyone chuckled at this with Star nodding and smiling with her eyes going back to normal. "So, you guys ready for this concert?" Everyone let out a cheer as Jackie spoke up.

"This is gonna be awesome man." Marco smiled feeling slightly overwhelmed at all the baggage that had been dropped off thinking to himself, 'Nice that everyone is getting along, now to see if another shoe drops.'

* * *

"Looks like a full house tonight man; as expected." Jackie smiled broadly with the group nodding in agreement.

After Star had poofed up a replacement shirt for Tom and skateboard for Jackie the quartet had gotten to the concert rather uneventfully. Tension was at an all-time low during their trek there and Marco noticed Star and Tom had opened up with each other talking about things in a way he and Star typically did. Marco smiled at the thoughts of that and the coming night ahead seeing the crowd mill about getting into seats. Some of the people cast them strange looks at the fact that a demon and a lizard girl were a part of their group but most people either waved good-natured or just ignored them. He looked to the stage getting pumped for the songs but his musing was interrupted by a shaking on his sleeve by Star.

"MARCO!" Marco looked at Star who was pointing to a food cart. "Can I have money for funnel cakes!?" Star smiled as Marco groaned slightly. Of all the snack food on earth, aside from his nachos, Star loved funnel cakes the most for some reason.

"Well Star the concert's about to start, want to wait till after…" Star interrupted him with pleading eyes.

"Can I have money for funnel cakes!?" Marco stared at the beautiful purplish-green shade Star's eyes had gone feeling lost in them for a second before he snapped himself out of it.

"You know what sure, I still got money left over from Mewnipendance day." Marco reached in his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash Star took drooling at the moment.

"Thank you Marco, I will pay you back for this!" Star leapt away running off to the food stand on all fours with Tom commenting on this as he chuckled.

"That's Star alright, will never pass up a chance for munchies." Everyone chuckled with noise coming from the stage. "Oh, it's starting. Let's get moving people." They got to their seats as fast as possible with action coming from all around the stage.

The stage was set up to look like a prison wall with actual razor wire at the top for added effect. Prison dogs began barking trying to intimidate prisoners while a prison siren started up. Floodlights began moving about the audience getting everyone's attention before settling on the stage. As they watched the stage flooded with smoke from fog machines as a gruff voice called out over a speaker.

"Warning, we have a breach with potential escapees. This is not a drill, repeat this is not a drill!" The wall on stage exploded in a controlled fashion with more fog billowing out followed by the band Love Sentence.

"Yeaaahhh, way to make an entrance!" Marco called out with others echoing his thoughts and words throughout the audience rather loudly.

As they watched the members of the band seemed to actually be trying to escape the cops who began coming on stage trying to subdue the band. At first it looked like a desperate game where the band had no chance but then a song started playing that made Marco and Tom perk up.

 **Star vs. the Forces of Evil OST - Awesome Feeling (Extended Cut) ( watch?v=YuIuPE59E4I)**

"OUR SONG!" Tom and Marco then began to sing the song as the performance unfurled.

 **Awesome feeling, nothing's gonna take us down.**

 **At first I turned my head but then you really turned my day around.**

The band members, who were originally looking out for themselves, began working together to avoid the guards with one outright distracting the guards for the others.

 **Awesome Feeling, we're burning bullies looking fine.**

 **Do whatever cause it's fun, I think I will never lose my Awesome feeling.**

Through some cool moves, that were obviously choreographed, the group avoided the guards and pulled the guy who distracted them out of danger.

 **We started out as Freindenemies, but then you opened up to me. And found that we had chemistry.**

When they had reached 'safety' the group did a type of group hug and turned back to the audience and began singing real time.

 **And you were like oooooh-ahhh-oh. And I was like ohhhhh-ehhhh-ohhhh. White tiger's like Ohhhh-ahhhh-ohhhh. Alright!**

 **(end music)**

The concert continued for a while with people singing along with their various songs, especially Marco and Tom. Throughout the concert the band did various acting bits as they sung involving them struggling with either life on the run or in prison. Marco found this rather interesting as most bands just sung but this one acted things out as well giving them a strange performing edge over others. Eventually they got to the song 'Too Little Too Late' where couples throughout the audience began kissing. At the audience calming down Marco was finally able to check in on Star and saw her eating from a massive pile of funnel cakes while a small group was cheering her on. Marco chuckled and spoke up to Tom.

"Say man, you should see what Star is up…" Marco stopped mid-sentence however when he turned and saw Tom and Jackie kissing right next to him.

Marco's face went slack and wide-eyed with shock as Tom and Jackie broke off with shocked looks on their own faces as well. The duo stared at each other a moment as if trying to figure out what just happened with their eyes going wide. Jackie caught a glimpse of Marco staring at them and gave an eep in shock with Tom whirling around to see Marco staring at them. Tom got a terrified deer in the headlights look as he looked back and forth with Marco speaking up in a shocked neutral tone.

"Tom… can I talk to you for a minute?" Tom nodded and they broke off from a worried looking Jackie moving away from the crowd.

"Look man I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me I mean one minute we were just singing and the next my lips were on Jackie's and…"

"Go for her." Tom blinked in shock at Marco's words his face somehow even more shocked.

"… what?"

"Go for her man." Tom shook his head at Marco's words before replying.

"Dude, she's your…"

"Ex, not girlfriend, ex dude." Marco put his hand on Tom's shoulder in a comforting manner. "I could tell you two were getting rather close so this… makes sense in a way. Jackie and me are not a thing and me keeping you two from becoming a thing just because she's my ex would be rather childish. So go to her man, you're not gonna get another opportunity for a girl that good." Tom got teary eyed and sniffed a little before pulling Marco into another hug with Marco returning it. "Come on man, bring it in." After a few seconds of this Tom broke away and spoke up.

"You are the best friend a guy could ask for." Tom moved away from Marco to Jackie with Marco watching him go.

Tom whispered in Jackie's ear with her blinking in shock and looking to Marco who nodded reassuringly with Jackie smiling at him. She then turned towards Tom and moved in, a little hesitantly, for another kiss which Tom accepted eagerly. Marco smiled looking at them and felt… nothing, making Marco blink in confusion. He had been expecting jealousy for the two, bitterness at losing Jackie for good, relief that Jackie was really gone for good, sadness at what he had lost and how it was his fault, even happiness for his friends getting together; but he just felt nothing. Not even a peaceful nothing or a hollow nothing but like everything had just stopped for him. Marco sighed slightly and turned upon hearing someone approaching to see Star. She smiled as she hopped up next to him carrying a remnantal but still large pile of funnel cakes and went to speak but her face fell upon seeing Marco's blank look and went slack with shock as she saw Jackie and Tom break off their second kiss. Star put down her stack of funnel cakes and went to speak but Marco held up his hand interrupting her.

"Don't worry I'm fine with it Star, me and Tom talked it over." Star looked at Marco with a worried expression with Marco continuing. "Honestly given how those two were acting something like this was possible but…" Star put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly speaking up.

"While I'm nervous for Jackie given… well… but still, I'm glad for them and proud of you." Marco smiled at that feeling the nothing inside of him lessen and warm up ever so slightly.

As that happened a strange and powerful gust of wind pushed the spotlights a bit and swept through the audience in a gust. As Marco held himself against the wind Star smiled peacefully and turned into the wind closing her eyes and smelling it happily. As Marco balanced himself he looked up at Star seeing a spotlight had adjusted enough to put her in its edges with the wind pushing back her hair as a… strange transformation seemed to happen.

Her blueish-silvery hair waved like a horse's mane at full gallop and shown like liquid starlight under the spotlight framing her rounded face. Her small nose sat perfectly between her rose colored heart shaped cheek marks making her face look a very cute doll's. As she smiled he realized suddenly that when she smiled broadly without parting her lips she had two fangs pop out like vampire teeth in a strangely cute fashion. Her light grey skin suddenly seemed to gain an almost lavender hue as the light hit it giving it an exotic appeal that Marco had never realized was there. Her tail perked up and wiggled ever so slightly in the most adorable fashion as her skirt flowed in the breeze. And when Star finally opened her eyes they shined a brilliant purplish-green like a pool lined with exotic gemstones enhancing her doll like image. Star turned towards him smiling in the most peaceful way with her face of happiness and serenity suddenly giving way to concern.

"Marco are you ok?" Marco felt his face grow warm as he realized he had been staring at Star. ***Throb***

The lights were put back into place and the wind died down with her eyes returning back to their normal green but still pretty eyes. 'What was… that?' Marco thought to himself feeling burnt out and nervous suddenly as he felt himself blush. He coughed trying to hide his embarrassment and started speaking up quickly.

"Oh just feeling burnt out from today is all; a lot has happened right?" Star nodded understandingly as he continued chuckling nervously. "So how many funnel cakes did you actually eat, you were gone for a solid twenty minutes and I saw you participating in an eat off of sorts." Star giggled and turned back to the concert speaking up.

"Well after I initially ordered a whole pile of funnel cakes the cart manager said that everyone needed to buy their own funnel cakes. When I told him they were all for myself he said in order to prove it to him I had to eat the funnel cakes right in front of him. As I reached the one-third point with no stopping a crowd gathered around to cheer me on with the cart guy doing the same. After the half-way point, or something like that I'm not sure, he finally told me he was convinced and let me go. As I left one cute guy even stopped me and asked for my number saying he was looking for a woman like me for a long time." Marco felt the burnt out feeling go away to be replaced by a strange and unwarranted feeling of panic as he heard a guy had been hitting on Star. ***Throb pang*** "Of course I told him we could be friends for now as I don't just leap into a relationship like that which he accepted. It is kind of interesting that some people are attracted to a huge appetite like that." Marco felt the panic melt away leaving him feeling burned out and confused. He wasn't an overprotective brother or father; in fact if Star had found someone she actually trusted enough to let them in her life like that, given her past with boys, he would be happy for her. 'So… why was I upset over someone being closer to Star then me?' Marco thought to himself in confusion. "Are you sure you're ok Marco?" Marco looked up again to see Star staring at him in concern moving in close.

"I… um…" He fumbled for words for a second before speaking. "I… think I'm more burnt out then I thought I was; I'm gonna head out." Star blinked in confusion.

"But we're only 1/5th or so into the concert?" Marco looked down with Star hugging him reassuringly. "I get it Marco, that kind of stuff happens to me all the time." Marco hugged her back feeling her shiver against him. "Oh you're so warm and snuggly Marco, I could hug you all day." ***Throb*** Marco batted away at whatever emotions were playing with him and stepped back before speaking.

"Say Star… you wouldn't mind us… sleeping together again tonight would you?" Star blinked in confusion as while she had asked him multiple times he had never asked her before smiling and replying.

"You know what how about I head back with you." She raised her hand to his lips cutting off his reply. "Oh no, you seem to have had it harder today then you are letting on so I'm coming with you. Besides, our friends are a little busy right now."

She motioned to Tom who had a goofy face on and was being held balancing on his ankles as Jackie kissed him. Marco and Star chuckled at this with Star picking up her remaining funnel cakes and shoving herself into Marco's hoodie for warmth. As they started walking home with Star munching on her funnel cakes Marco thought back to the series of events earlier involving Star. 'What was all that? Suddenly she just looked so… beautiful. ***Throb*** No… no no no that can't be it. You're probably just projecting after having just seen Jackie get with your best friend so you're falling back on your best friend.' He glanced down at Star who pushed up some funnel cake for him which he took eagerly eating alongside Star. 'I can't lead Star on like that if I'm just projecting emotions onto her, that's childish. Yes we do a lot of stuff that couples do but Star just views me as a bestie. And even if she viewed me as more then that… I'm not good enough for her.' Marco got an idea and smiled to himself. 'I'm not good enough yet, but I will be. I going to improve myself until I am mature enough to get Toffee's approval at the very least. Yeah, before I can find a girlfriend I must first be a man.'

 **Well that was a lot to unpack. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your tastes, it's not over. Time for a little 'Sleepover' people. But first, there will be some delays as there are oneshots piled up everywhere. *camera pans back to reveal the WH rowing on a sea of oneshot requests* So much to do so little time.**


	59. Sleepover Pt 1

**WH: Narrator, you're up again get moving!**

 **SN: Going Hippie. *Moves out with OP looking at me in concern.***

 **OP: Are you sure this format of letting people know who is speaking will work.**

 **WH: *shrugs* You got a better idea to juggle 16 people? I work with what I got man. Now let's get going, we've been absent for too long.**

"Just a little more and… there." Chloe and Alexis stepped back admiring their handiwork with Alexis speaking again. "So what do you think Star?" Star looked in the mirror of her bathroom for a full two seconds before replying with two thumbs up and a smile.

"Awesome!"

Star, Alexis, Jackie, Janna, Ponyhead, Kelly, Chloe, and Starfan13 were all in Star's bathroom doing random makeovers on each other with everyone in pajamas. Ponyhead, Starfan13, Kelly, and Star all had their faces done up with styled and bedazzled hair with Star's in particular looking like a silver lion's mane. At Star's words Chloe turned towards the other girls with a raised eyebrow asking them all.

"Who's next?" Janna immediately stepped away speaking up.

"That's not my thing; I'm not a girly girl if you get my drift." Jackie smiled and stepped forward taking Star's spot with Alexis speaking up.

"Ok you want something random or are you going to say anything that we will simply ignore and just give you what we think is best?" Jackie chuckled before responding.

"Oh just…" She was cut off however by a dinging sound of a timer going off and what sounded like a small earthquake downstairs making Star perk up.

"Oh brownies are done. Come down at your convenience but wait until Marco has taste tested them as I have never made brownies before." Star ran off downstairs with the other girls focusing on Jackie's makeup with Ponyhead calling after Star.

"Be sure earthturd isn't destroying the house!" Star slipped downstairs looking over the family room to see Marco and the guys downstairs.

Ferguson was getting up from where he must have landed on the couch considering the couch was knocked over on its back. Alfonzo, Marco, Dennis, Oskar, Tom, and Rico were looking at Tempest in a shocked manner as green magic faded away from his fist. The guys were also in their pajamas and it looked like they had been playing video games until some sort of magical blast had destroyed one of the controller's and threw Ferguson back. Tempest looked at his hand in silent shock as he spoke quietly.

"I just went to shoot some lights for a victory dance… guess I don't know my own strength?" Tom sighed and spoke up.

"It happens to everyone man, sometimes you just let a little too loose; was a nice performance though." Everyone nodded and even chuckled at that with Marco speaking up.

"Get the spare controller Alfonzo; I think Star wants me to help her out with brownies." Marco moved over with Star to the kitchen speaking in a whisper. "Are you sure it was a good idea to bring Tom in for the sleepover, some of your other friends don't seem to like or trust him." Star glanced back seeing Tempest and Tom laughing with each other while Dennis glanced over unsure and Rico glared daggers at Tom behind his back.

"Don't worry Marco they just need to see he's a changed guy now is all." Star chuckled nervously but snapped to attention. "Ahhhh, my brownies!" Star leapt over to the oven literately and pulled on oven mitts. "Safety first." She pulled out the brownies letting them stand out and turned to Marco. "You mind taste testing them Marco? Be warned I am not a good cook." Marco simply chuckled and nodded before speaking.

"Star I have been teaching you how to cook for the last few months, have a little faith that you will at least make something decent." Marco rubbed her head with Star purring under his hand. "Say does that actually feel good?" Star nodded smiling at him.

"Yes and I have no idea why. Dad says I get it from my mom who seems to be part cat for some reason." They both looked out into the family room to see the girls had come down to see the room being set back into place. At the site of the girls Ferguson immediately pulled out his belly and began making it talk to Alexis.

"Hey girl, how ya doin eh?" At this Alexis giggled and patted his head making Ferguson step back in confusion before she spoke.

"Yeah sorry boy, I'm a bit too old for you at the moment. Wait a few years so the gap isn't so great?" Ferguson, as well as all the human friends, blinked in confusion until Alexis clarified. "Oh you guys didn't know; I'm actually 17 as of 1 week ago." She got an ohhhh of appreciation from everyone looking up to her in awe with Star speaking up.

"Brownies should be cool enough in several minutes. So which of you boys wants to be pretty?" The girls were completely taken off guard when Alfonzo, Tempest, Oskar, Marco, and Tom immediately stepped forward. "Wow, shows how off stereotypes about boys are." As everyone got into their swing of things Marco was started on by Alexis with Marco speaking to her.

"So you're like the cool older sister to Star except you're not actually related." Alexis nodded and replied.

"Well kind of, more like really close cousins than anything else. Honestly I'm just lucky my parents don't push me for marriage as few women outside of formal groups don't get married by this age." Marco blinked in confusion before nodding in understanding.

"I actually get that, my mom has spouted off a lot of knowledge about medieval history including that kind of stuff. Here on earth things are 'often' far more lenient." Alexis smiled at this. "Say, why are you hanging with people who are on average around three years younger than you?" At this Alexis stopped her makeover with a sigh and extended one of her wings in front of him. "Oh. Sometimes I forget things aren't so cool for a half-blood back on Mewni." Alexis nodded before speaking.

"We Half-bloods have to stick together; that's why I was happy about Tom turning over a new leaf." She nodded towards Tom who was strutting his makeover like a diva with people applauding him. "He was never 'fully' a part of our group before but I hope he becomes a part of it." At this Star brought out her brownies and held them in front of Marco.

"That should be good right?" Marco nodded and took a bite out of one blinking in confusion for a second before speaking.

"Um what extra's did you put in this brownie?" Star shrugged and replied.

"Not exactly sure, just threw in some stuff from the cabinet that looked like chocolate chips." Marco glanced back at it and shrugged.

"It's serviceable. I give it the ok even if it's not for everyone." Star giggled gleefully and began serving them around with mixed reactions. "Star is pretty awesome isn't she?" Alexis giggled styling his hair a bit as she replied.

"Interested in her eh?" Marco shook his head with Alexis giggling. "Ok then keep your secrets. I'm not going to bedazzle this hair though, it's way too soft and fluffy for me to dare mess with it." She rubbed it a little before sniffing it making Marco blush. "Oh and it smells like watermelon and those nachos you prepared earlier. Hey guys come and mess with Marco's hair!" Marco blushed profusely when all the girls, except for Jackie, came over and began rubbing his head while taking turns smelling it.

"Mmmmmm, I'm surprised a girl hasn't scooped you up after your thing with Jackie ended." Kelly spoke as she rubbed his head and smelling it. "I love this hair of yours." Marco began waving the girls off blushing profusely as he spoke up.

"Hey hey, does this look like a petting zoo to you?!" The girls gave a groan in disappointment as Star looked up to him with puppy dog eyes. "Star you get to rub my head all the time is it really that good?" Star nodded with Janna commenting.

"I do it all the time and I can't get enough." Everyone stared at Janna in shocked confusion with Marco backing away. "What?" Marco backed away even further only to have Alfonzo, Oskar, and Tempest begin rubbing his head with Tempest speaking up.

"Am I ever jealous of hopper over there; you got some fine hair to mess with." Marco waved them off as well stepping back and speaking.

"Seriously, why is everyone messing with my hair; I'm not a dog!?" At this the other guys who didn't rub Marco's hair sighed as they felt their own hair with sad faces with Tom speaking.

"Dang, guess his hair is what's in now." At this Jackie chuckled and rubbed Tom's head speaking up.

"You know your hair is actually pretty nice as well with its sparkly warmth. It also smells like exotic spices." At that Jackie leaned forward inhaling his scent with Tom blushing slightly. As everyone chuckled the sounds of video games being resumed brought everyone's attention to Ferguson and Rico who had resumed playing _Smash Brothers_ with Ferguson absolutely clobbering Rico at the moment.

"Oh, I call playing off against the winner!" Alexis called out rushing to the game with everyone either calling out who will play next, watching the duo play smash, or talked with each other to the side.

"Yo girl, you seem interested in earth turd don't you?" Ponyhead spoke to Kelly who blushed slightly at that shaking her head.

"Uh uh, I just like his hair. I get the feeling Marco would find it as fallback if I approached him considering how into Jackie he was from what I heard. I'm also not dating for now with the whole thing about Tad." Kelly fumed for a second before speaking again. "And for some reason it feels like it would just be a random ship that came out of nowhere just to make things more complicated." Ponyhead stared at her oddly before replying.

"That last part was oddly specific but it does feel that way." Ponyhead suddenly felt a rumbling down 'below'. "Oh dang, earth turd's nachos are actually decent but they make things 'flow'. I gotta go make boom boom." Ponyhead flew off leaving Kelly to shake her head and join the crowd around the console.

 **SN: One war scene in the bathroom later.**

Ponyhead emerged shaking her head and moving along the hallway somewhat eager to get back to the group. She could play Smash by levitating the remote but it was pretty dang hard to do so. As she moved through the hallway she heard Janna and Jakcie talking to each other and picked up a few words in their conversation.

"… we just need to let Star take her time with her crush…" Ponyhead immediately comically glued her ear to the conversation thinking. 'Say what now, B-fly has a crush!' "… I mean falling in love with your bestie can be complicated." Ponyhead listened to Jackie's words with a shocked look on her face as Janna responded.

"Well it seems Marco has moved on from you given the concert so I think it's time we push Star forward." Ponyhead's jaw dropped at that with Jackie resuming.

"Not with how sensitive Star is you know she needs to take her time."

"With how the girls were mobbing Marco's hair?! He's not only attractive on his own but taking care of Star has given him the sensitive and the masculine edge that girls love! He'll be scooped up in a matter of weeks with summer vacation brewing! If Star doesn't move now she'll lose her chance yet again. In fact… I almost redeveloped my crush on him." The sound of Jackie patting Janna on the back came around the corner with Jackie speaking.

"Look we should help Star but not make her nervous, she's nervous enough as is given her past. Let's try to just smooth things along without pushing her for now." Janna responded with a devious voice.

"And keep other girls from getting to Marco?"

"*Sigh* Not if we have any other options please." Ponyhead listened to the two move away seemingly satisfied with their conversation leaving Ponyhead in shocked thought.

'B-fly has a crush on earth turd and people think he is her BESTIE! I don't know which is more outlandish!' Of course as Ponyhead got over her jealousy over bestie-ship and really thought about it Marco had been caring for Star in a manner that could have made her imprint upon him. He also, she admitted with loathing, was fairly attractive with his fluffy black hair, chocolate colored eyes, and beauty mark. He could also pull off a dress rather well which only seemed to help. And as the two lived together it only made sense that they would get really close with each other to the point where… 'Say what they were saying makes sense. And the part about another girl scooping him up could be true.' Ponyhead hated to admit it but Star and Marco could be a good couple and this might be one of Star's ONLY chances at a real boyfriend. Her half-blood heritage would keep most boys from finding her attractive and her position of power would make the nobles compete for her hand just to be king of Mewni. 'I've got to do something to get B-fly's feelings out… and I know just what to do.'

* * *

"Ok, so what is this game you had in mind Ponyhead?" Marco spoke a little skeptically with the group of 16 all gathering in Star's room around some sort of veined blue box with Ponyhead explaining.

"This is the Truth Box, it's a game of 'Truth or Punishment'. It's all about revealing your deepest darkest secrets." Everyone gave an ooh in awe at this with Ferguson immediately stepping up and running for the door exclaiming.

"And I'm out, see you guys lat…" Ferguson was cut off as Janna tackled him to the ground and spoke to him while he was in a pinned position.

"Oh come on man pull yourself together, we're all friends here right?" Ferguson glanced over to the group who was nodding to him with several speaking up.

"Come on Ferguson."

"Yeah come share secrets."

He glanced around worried to see he wasn't the only one who looked uncomfortable. Tom was glancing around nervously and holding Jackie's hand tight enough for her to look at him concerned. Star was holding her tail close to herself borderline rubbing it in nervousness. Chloe was also twitching slightly with nervous glances being thrown at various people, mostly Alfonzo and Marco for some reason. Janna heaved Ferguson back up on his feet, somehow, and pushed him over with Ferguson whispering to Janna.

"I'm uncomfortable with this Janna, some things are meant to be kept secrets." Janna ignored him and pushed him back into the circle with Ponyhead speaking up.

"Ok so it asks three questions, each harder then the last, and all we have to do is answer them. So…" Ponyhead then clapped her ears making the lights go out and tapped the box with her tongue. The box lite up an eerie blue color and spoke in a airy and alien voice.

"Deceit and fables, lies and fiction, even with complete conviction, if truth is absent from these events all will face the punishment."

Starfan13: "What does that mean?"

Rico: "It means if you lie to him, somethin bad's gonna happen."

A smaller box then popped out of the top of the box with a fanged maw sticking out it's tounge tacking the center piece of it with the box speaking again.

"Pledge an oath of complete conviction, pinkie swear to me." Everyone put their pinkies in one by one pledging to tell the truth with some being a little hesitant to do so. When they were done the smaller box lowered back into the bigger box. "It's time for Truth or Punishment." A small rectangle popped out of the side with flipping panels that were turning fast.

Janna: "Pony girl, this is already awesome."

"The first question is…" The panels slowed down flipping over one by one with the box reading them aloud. "… what is… your… favorite color?" Everyone blinked in confusion looking at each other in confusion some slightly let down.

Tempest: "What gives man, this is supposed to be a deep secret revealing thing right?"

Oskar: shrugging nonchalantly "Perhaps they're starting off easy to lure you into a false sense of security man."

Dennis and Alfonzo: "I would second that." They blinked at each other in confusion at the syncing and smiled giving each other finger guns. "Nice sync man." Alexis facepalmed at this.

Alexis: "Oh gods, there's two of them now."

Ponyhead: "Perhaps the next one will be if you ever killed a man… oh wait that's still easy. Anyways, Ponyhead color, done." The humans looked at her in confusion.

Kelly: "It's a very popular color back on Mewni. Mine is Turquoise."

Janna: "Black, like my soul."

Rico: "Same here girl." They fist bumped at that.

Tom: "Fiery red and black for me, it's best if they are together."

Marco: "Red for me, of course that's kind of obvious." Everyone nodded at that.

Jackie: "Neon green."

Tempest: "Nice one, but I would still have to go with purple; sparkly purple." He flipped his purplish-blond hair in a majestic fashion making everyone stare in awe.

Star: "White, pure white."

Starfan13: "OMG, same here!" They immediately clasped hands together and giggled with Ponyhead looking on in jealousy.

Alexis: "Forest green for me."

Chloe: "Yellow, a pure sunshine yellow."

Ferguson: "Grey, charcoal grey to be specific."

Oskar: "Electric blue… or Indigo; I can't remember which is which half the time."

Dennis: "Cream orange."

Alfonzo: "Oh same here! Man we are on a roll" The two giggled at that with everyone looking on in confusion with Tom speaking up.

"Are we witnessing the birth of a bromance?" Everyone attention was immediately taken by the room going red and the box speaking up.

"SOMEONE IS LYING!" The top of the box popped open with red lightning shooting out a tickling everyone. "To stop the ticklish lightning, the truth is all that's needed." As everyone rolled on the floor laughing Star spoke up.

"Ok, *hehehe* whoever lied speak up *hahaha*" After a few more seconds of this Janna shouted out.

Janna: "PINK! I love pink."

"Truth!" Everyone looked at Janna in shock as Janna curled up looking down as if ashamed with herself and spoke in a whisper.

"I don't like contributing to gender stereotypes." Ferguson immediately patted her on the back showing support while speaking up.

"It doesn't matter Janna, you do you as that defies gender norms enough as is." Janna smiled surprisingly sweetly at him with the box speaking up.

"Fighting the patriarchy is more than just defying what is deemed the 'norm'." The box floated up at seemed to cast a spell that created a gigantic box similar to itself that engulfed Star's tower getting the attention of some people walking by their house.

"Ummm… what kind of construction are they doing?"

"Don't know and don't care; I am not getting involved with that house given what has been going on around there." The people moved along keeping their heads down.

Inside the box it looked like the group had actually been sucked inside of the game with walls looking like the boxes exterior all around them instead of star's room. Everyone looked around in awe but some people knew better then to be excited. This was only to beginning at it was only gonna get worse; they were in, for a rough night.

"Question two… what do you... really... think of... Tom?" Everyone glanced at each other with Ferguson thinking to himself 'Yup... definitely a rough night.'

 **WH: Welp... that escalated quickly.**


	60. Sleepover Pt 2

In the backyard of the Diaz residence Floyd was staring at the undead flaming warnicorn with the warnicorn staring back a little weirded out by the bird. A dragon cycle looked at them from the side curled up on himself with Nacho circling him in confusion moving in close to sniff on occasion. Their attention was taken up however when a gigantic blue and veined cube immediately engulfed Star's tower room. The entities looked at each other in concern with Floyd flying up to the roof and started pecking it with the warnicorn commenting.

"I… have a bad feeling about this." Nacho meowed in agreement as Floyd's pecking increased in speed.

* * *

Everyone looked back and forth between each other with eyes glancing towards Tom the most. Everyone knew about the fact that at least Tom and Star had been together at some point and that it was Tom's fault they had broken up. For those who knew the full story it made things even more uncomfortable especially with Star forgiving Tom not really helping alleviate what had happened. After a few seconds of this Tom finally spoke up.

"A bit of a jerk and asshat to be completely honest. He had problems yes but that was no excuse for some of the things he did and how he was in denial of most of the things he did wrong for years. Honestly he is shocked Star forgave him in the first place from what I know." Everyone looked at Tom wide eyed in shock as the box responded.

"Wow… I always get to the truth but damn that was brutal." Everyone looked at each other in worry before Jackie spoke up.

"Well once you manage to peel back his issues he is actually a really cool and sweet guy. And I would have him no other way." Jackie leaned in hugging him from the side with Tom blushing slightly. Most people smiled sweetly or uncomfortably at this with Ponyhead speaking up.

"Well what he did to B-Fly is unforgivable and I ain't forgivin that demon turd for it." At this people began speaking up on their opinion of Tom as if the floodgates had been broken.

Tempest: "Well I think he's a decent boi who has come a long way and deserves the chance to rock with us."

Oskar" "Same here man; rock on out Tom to your new color."

Chloe: "Everyone can change for the better, right?" Chloe shivered a little at this.

Alfonzo: "I'm ok with him, but you should still us caution around that unpredictable guy."

Dennis: "I second that."

Starfan13: "If Star is ok with him I am; but I will never let anyone get at Star." To push her point home she hugged Star close to her.

Janna: "I like the cool demon guy. Shame he doesn't want to share the secrets of his powers with me."

Ferguson: "That may be for the best; that guy is intimidating despite how cool he comes across as."

Alexis: "Eh, he seems like a decent guy now and we can always us more friends. Nice to see he's turned over a new leaf."

Kelly: "I don't know about him honestly, it's always difficult to judge your friend's ex especially considering what he has done."

Janna: "Say what did he do to Star anyways?" Chloe, Starfan13, Ferguson, Alfonzo, and Oskar nodded and looked to Star questioningly what Marco butting in.

Marco: "That's personal business people; Star or Tom will let you know if they want to. Anyways he's honestly a really decent guy who I am glad I've met; despite how we first met and interacted with each other." Tom chuckled a little nervously at that shifting in closer to Jackie.

Star: "Well… um… he's…" Everyone looked at Star in concern as she struggled to find words. "…I … don't know what to think of him ok! I mean he was one of my best friends once and… despite everything…" She glanced towards Tom sadly before pulling herself together. "I want to get to know him again so I can be friends with him." Marco smiled and immediately took out the special comb and began combing Star's hair making her relax immediately. Everyone smiled at that turning towards Rico who had a panicked look on his face as he glanced towards the truth box.

Rico: "Please don't make me be that jackass people. I really don't wanna…" He looked at the truth box again. "*sigh* Alright then, Tom is a jackass that doesn't deserve forgiveness and its clear Star's issues are worse than everyone thinks if she just forgave him so easily."

Truth Box: "TRUTH!" Everyone looked at Rico in shock with Jackie speaking up.

"Dude, do you realize how hard it was for Star to forgive Tom after all that!?" Rico replied a bit exasperated.

"He locked Star up in a burning coffin with chains because he thought he had to own her as property to keep her safe! I know I'm no saint, I did some pretty bad stuff in my time, but that just takes the cake!"

The argument got heated fast and escalated with several people taking Jackie's side and several taking Rico's side. Everyone else sat to the side looking back and forth between the two groups a bit unnerved by how fast the friendly atmosphere had fallen apart. After about a minute of this Marco finally stood up yelling at everyone.

"GUYS JUST STOP!" Everyone looked at him in shock. "Star made a decision on this and your arguing is just making things worse!" He pointed at Star who was rubbing her tail fiercely with bluish-green eyes cast down in worry. As everyone calmed down on this Tom spoke up.

"You know what, I'm just gonna leave." He got up and moved to the door with Jackie calling out after him.

"Wait Tom, you don't have to…"

"I know, but I want to." Tom turned back to the group with a saddened face. "I don't want to turn friends against each other like this, you know." Tom left the sentence hanging and moved towards a doorway marked exit on one of the walls. As he moved there Janna spoke up as if talking to herself.

"Hmmm, becoming a demon's property; and here I thought it would have its perks." Everyone turned to Janna with shocked looks as she realized she spoke out loud. "Wait… was that…" Ferguson spoke up at that.

"Seriously Janna this is real life not a hentai, get your head out of the gutter." Everyone didn't have much time to mull over Janna's perverted kinkiness when Tom opened the door to a surprise.

A boxing bell sounded with a spring loaded boxing glove giving Tom a solid smack sending him flying across the room. Everyone watched him reach 8 feet in the air before he slammed against the wall face first hard enough to send vibrations out. The group watched as Tom pulled himself up speaking in a dazed manner.

"Well people, guess we're stuck here until the game is over."

"That is correct." The Truth Box reared up into the air again and faced them all down. "Nobody leaves until you answer the final question." The flip part came out again revealing the question to a nervous crowd. "Who do you… have a… crush on?" Star, Chloe, Kelly, and Ferguson immediately got panicked looks as they glanced back and forth with the crowd of friends calming down slightly. "And as a bonus for no one lying the last round, only the one who lies will be punished this round. And I will be going through you one… by… one." Alexis spoke up at this getting everyone's attention.

"Alright people we can do this. Let's just answer and end this. Alright game, we're ready." Everyone nodded with the Truth Box going up to people one at a time.

"Who do you have a crush on?"

Oskar: "My man with the flute here."

Tempest: "My man with the keytar here." The two immediately pulled each other into a quick kiss getting Janna, Starfan13, and Chloe's attention who all had bloody noses.

Chloe: "I feel so much inspiration for art right now."

Starfan13: "That was almost as good as Star."

Janna: "Just right." The box moved in on Janna who was snapped out of her yaoi shipping long enough to answer. "Well I bet everyone knows who I have a crush on hmm?" She glanced towards Tom who looked a little uncomfortable at the attention. "18th century poet John Ketes." The human friends nodded in consent to that with Tom letting out a sigh of relief.

Tom: "Well mine is Jackie obviously. She knows I am as bad as Rico says I am but she loves me anyway."

Jackie: "Mine is you because of how far you've come Tom you're a cool guy to be proud of." Jackie moved in close snuggling with Tom giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Rico: "I do hope you know what you're getting into girl. Anyway, mine is Princess Turdina; the rebel princess from St. Olga's. She's caught on like wildfire being bad in a good way."

Alfonzo and Dennis: "Same here. Oh dude we just said everything at the same time! Dude." The crowd of friends face palmed at the duo.

Alexis: "Weird bromance aside I have to agree with them. I don't normally go for girls but she is the exception." Ponyhead and Star began giggling with Marco having a mortified look on his face as he looked at the four of them. "What?"

Ponyhead: "Guys allow me to introduce to you…" Star cast a radiant shadow transform on Marco changing him into his princess outfit. "… Princess Marcia Turdina!" Everyone stared at Marco in shock.

Jackie: "So that's why you had that dress on at our date."

Alfonzo: "If you are…"

Dennis: "… really her…"

Rico: "EVERYTHING I'VE KNOWn IS A LIE!" Marco watched as Rico's, Alfonzo's, and Dennis's hearts were broken with Alexis getting a smile on her face and licked her lips.

Alexis: "Well… looks like Turdina just got even more attractive." Marco got a mortified expression his face at Alexis's perverted face as Star changed him out of the dress.

Janna: "I hear ya girl!"

Chloe: "Indeed."

Starfan13: "Good choice. Mine is Star, she is perfect waifu material." She hugged Star in close with Star looking slightly uncomfortable at this.

Ponyhead: "I would agree with that, but my crush is myself people. I love myself." She took a pose as everyone applauded her.

Kelly: "Well I would have to agree with you."

Truth Box: "Somebody's lying!" The box shot a type of metal skeleton on her forcing her to dance to painful electric shocks.

Rico: "Come on Kelly, just tell the truth; I at least know who it is." Everyone looked back and forth between the two in confusion.

Kelly: "Tad, damnit it's still Tad."

Truth Box: "TRUTH!" Kelly was set down with tears in her eyes.

Kelly: "I can't do it… I just can't move on from Tad no matter how hard I try. *sob* I just can't…" Rico moved over and gave Kelly a supportive hug with people nodding in solemn sympathy.

Truth Box: "No time to wait for you. Your turn." It turned towards a nervous looking Chloe.

Chloe: "I… don't know. I think it's a cross between Star and… Alfonzo." After a slight gasp at this people turned to a shocked Alfonzo.

Alfonzo: "Wait… a girl finds me attractive?! Does not compute… does not compute." Alfonzo fell on his back staring up at the ceiling in a dazed state.

Star: "Guys, I don't swing for girls and what's more how are you all finding me attractive?!"

Marco: "Because you are just a nice person Star, plus the tragic backstory really does make a person want to protect you. Aside from that though which girl of the week is it for you Ferguson?" Everyone looked at Ferguson with raised eyebrows.

Alfonzo: "Is it that actress you learned about two nights ago or are you after Sabrina again." Alfonzo was shaking off his shock at Chloe finding him attractive to speak up.

Janna: "Given your track record I'd say it's more than one girl at once huh?"

Rico: "You sound like a player with no skill but I can respect that well enough." Ferguson glanced back and forth between everyone for a few seconds before speaking hesitantly.

Ferguson: "Um, no one especially sticks out…"

Truth Box: "Someone's lying!" The Truth box then used its power to lift Ferguson off the ground and hit him around the room using what looked to be a gigantic tennis racket.

Janna: "Dude just tell the truth man, we all know you are after any and every girl first time you lay eyes on her; except for me for some reason." Everyone nodded at that with Ferguson being hit around for a few more seconds before he finally burst out.

Ferguson: "Fine, my crush is Janna!"

Truth Box: "Truth!" It set Ferguson down slowly to a shocked crowd.

Everyone didn't react at first but after a few seconds heads slowly turned to look at Janna. Janna had on a sly look that slipped away to reveal a face of complete and utter shock and disbelief. She stared at Ferguson completely taken off guard as he curled up pulling his knees in close to him as he tried to make himself smaller. After about a minute of people just looking in shock Janna finally spoke up.

"Ok… um…" Ferguson spoke up after it became clear Janna was stumbling along with her words.

"*sigh* Look, could you just reject me properly? I didn't have a crush on you that was anything more than… normal, until we started hanging out as friends and things just… well..." Janna spoke up again at this.

"Wait, if you had a crush on me then what was the thing with hitting on a girl a day?" Ferguson looked up with an annoyed look on his face before speaking.

"Did you honestly think I was going to succeed using some corny lines and a face painted on my belly? I know I'm just the dorky loser fatass who is the background person that an author would probably just forget about if I was in a story. I might as well have some fun with it." At this Alfonzo, Jackie, Starfan13, Chloe, Oskar, and Dennis all got uncomfortable sympathetic looks on their faces as if they seemed to understand what he meant on a more personal level. "No girl would give me more than a sideways glance; this is the real world people not a fairytale." Everyone looked back at Janna who was for once at a loss for words.

"I… um…" Before Janna could bring herself to react however the Truth Box spoke up again.

"Plenty of time for the awkward friendship reconciliation when this is over." Ponyhead spoke up at this.

"Yeah let's just end this already. Ask B-fly what…"

"Not so fast." The Truth Box cut Ponyhead off. "I choose who goes next and I say the next person is… Marco." Marco nodded and sighed before answering.

"I'd have to say… no one." People looked at him in concern as he turned towards Jackie and Tom. "Look, I handled things pretty badly between me and Jackie and I need to get myself in order. I don't know exactly where I fell down but I know I messed up somewhere. It's not your fault Jackie; it was my fault if it was anyone's fault. I need to improve myself so until then I'm not going to look for a relationship; you guys do understand that right?" Tom smiled at that and moved in close to Marco giving him a hug.

"You are one damn mature dude Marco; I wish I can be as good as you someday." Everyone gave an aww and a few even applauded Marco's words.

Marco looked up behind Tom to see most of the people he could see were smiling at him. Ponyhead however had an annoyed and worried look on her face with Jackie having a nervous look as well while Janna was just lost in thought about something. 'What are they so worried about?' Marco thought to himself as the Truth Box spoke again.

"An admirable person indeed and not shirking on the truth. Now then Star, who do you have a crush… Star?" Marco looked up at the Truth box's change in tone and immediately knew something was wrong as he and Tom parted.

Marco finally saw Star's reaction and his face fell at what he saw. Star was sitting with a look that conveyed she had just lost all hope as she stared at Marco. An eerie silence fell on everyone as Star closed her eyes tilting her head down with a single solitary tear sliding down her face as she spoke.

"Marco. My crush is Marco."

"TRUTH! And oh man did the awkward levels really spike up from before. The game is over; I'll be showing myself out now." The box room they were in disappeared returning them to Star's room as the box fell to the ground inert. The silence was so great a pin could have dropped on the floor and it would have echoed like a gong. Finally Marco spoke up slowly.

"Star…" Star immediately buried her face in hers and sobbed while she spoke.

"It was MY fault Jackie broke up with you!" A slight gasp went up from everyone as Star continued. "She said that you cared more about me then her and just let you go so she would not get in between us. I didn't want this, I wanted to just keep clear because I know you don't think of me that way; no one really does!" Star held her tail close to her as she cried. "I didn't want to ruin things but did anyway so I'm sorry Marco. *sniff* I'm sORry fOr RuINing your lOVe life!" Star turned and tried running off sobbing as she booked it.

"Star wait, STAR!" Marco leapt at Star trying to stop and would have failed if Star didn't have a tail for him to grab onto. The shock of Marco grabbing her tail stopped Star long enough for Marco to turn her around and hold her by her shoulders so he could speak to her. "Star, it's not your fault!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"I was being an immature kid who loved the idea of being with Jackie more than actually liking Jackie herself! I tried putting on an image of being a bad boy while being with her and it all backfired horribly through my actions Star! Not yours, mine! Even if you had a hand in this if it wasn't you it would have been something else eventually, so don't you dare blame yourself for this!" Marco then pulled Star in for a hug which Star hesitated at a second before clasping him back hard and began sobbing in as much relief as sadness.

"Wow… just wow." Everyone nodded in consent to Tempest's words with Marco speaking back up after a few seconds.

"Felling better yet Star?"

"*sniff* Yes Marco." A soft silence emerged only for it to be broken shortly by Ponyhead.

"Dang gurl, tough break getting rejected by earth turd cause he feels like a turd."

"Not exactly." Everyone turned towards Dennis who elaborated. "You see Marco simply said he wasn't going to look for anyone until he believes he has bettered himself. He did not say anything explicitly about what he would do if a girl approached him. So if you wish to get technical Marco has simply not given an answer to Star yet." Everyone immediately turned towards Star and Marco staring them down with the duo realizing this while they were still hugging. Blushing profusely the two almost leapt apart looking down and spent a minute composing themselves before Star spoke up.

"So uh… what do you think Marco? I mean it's ok if you don't see me as anything more than a friend… but…" Star was holding onto her tail rubbing it nervously as she waited for an answer.

Marco inhaled and exhaled coughing a little bit in nervousness before turning to look at Star. She just looked so vulnerable and everyone was staring in on him like he was the new kid at school. He knew what his answer would be as he didn't view Star that way and dating her just to give it a shot would just lead her on in a bad way. He needed to do this delicately though so he opened his mouth to answer…

'Do you not love her though?' Marco froze a voice echoed through his head.

'But… I don't think of her that way, she's just a friend.'

'Reallllllly?' A memory flashed through his mind of Star at the concert with the wind whipping her hair back and Star looking so beautiful…

'No that's just me projecting, nothing more.'

'Are you sure?' More memories flipped by; when Star went through Mewberty and Marco had to save her, Star and Marco dancing at the Blood Moon Ball, Marco facing down Tom to protect Star at the Blood Moon Ball, the time when Marco fought with the Shadow Dragon to keep it from killing Star, him acting as Star's therapist when she was having nightmares, after Brittany's party when he carried Star home after she fell apart, the time after the big game when he and Star slept in the same bed for the first time, when he saw their memories together when they were four through the time dimension…. And he really began to think about how it all made him feel. 'Do you really think that all of this is just 'projecting' onto your best friend?' Marco blinked coming back to reality and saw everyone was leaning in subconsciously towards him. The memories were flashing by, everyone was getting more eager by the second, Star was looking really nervous and vulnerable…

"CAN I HAVE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS!?" At those words everyone groaned aloud and slumped back disappointed with Ponyhead speaking up.

"Really, you take that cop-out option earth turd?" Marco replied quickly.

"Well I can't just make a snap decision like this, I need to actually be careful of these things from now on. You guys do actually know what I mean right?" As people nodded in consent to this Janna turned towards the audience.

"Well, now that's just lazy writing to keep the tension high."

"No no, I'm ok with it actually." Star spoke up getting everyone's attention. "You just… take your time Marco ok. I don't wanna force anything." Star shivered a little holding her tail close looking incredibly vulnerable in the process.

"Star." Star looked up at Marco's words as he hugged her again. "We will never not be best friends ever, got that?" Star smiled at that and hugged him back crying slightly.

"Well I think tonight is well and truly done." People looked over at Rico who stood up brushing himself off. "I think it's time we all headed back home." Everyone nodded and went their separate ways dispersing through portals back home, cour·te·sy of Rico.

As Marco left Star's room he glanced back at her to see Star pull out one of her medication cigars and light it up. 'Oh man, I need to make a decision fast if I want to keep Star from becoming a junkie. But what do I do?' Marco closed the door groaning to himself in exasperation as he walked to his room speaking to himself.

"Do I love Star?"

 **SN: You know Janna does have a point.**

 **WH: Hey people can't just make snap decisions like that, for once it is realistic. Regardless though, this love mess has been going on for too long. It's time we end this. Next time around, we see what happens to the 'Star-crossed Lovers'. See you then.**


	61. Star-crossed Lovers Pt 1

Janna, Starfan13, and Alfonzo were standing near Marco's locker waiting for him to come by before lunch. His patterns in the school day could be timed on a stopwatch given his manner of planning things out. They were a bit nervous of approaching him as for the last few days they had left him to deal with the sudden tension between him and Star. But as Sunday passed and now with it being Thursday they needed to check in on him and this would be a convenient time. They were making tense conversation as best they could until he arrived with Alfonzo finally speaking up.

"Hey guys I see him!" They turned towards the approaching Marco eagerly. "Hey Marco wha- ohhhhhh." Everyone froze as they took Marco in seeing he was in extremely bad condition.

He had black circles around his eyes showing he had not slept for quite some time with his tired and sluggish movements pushing the point home. He had a dazed and unfocused look to his eyes showing that he was not paying much attention to anything. His hair was ruffled with his clothes being unkempt showing he had not focused on personal hygiene for a little while. He didn't even seem to notice Alfonzo's call out as he shuffled right by the group and went up to his locker going through the combo once and getting it wrong. Angrily he slammed his fist on the door and went for it again with Starfan13 speaking up.

"Marco, how's…"

"I DON'T KNOW OK!" Everyone leapt back at Marco's words as he seemed to realize what he had done. "Ahem, sorry I'm not in so good a state." He turned back to his locker getting it wrong again. "Why won't this damn door work!?" He slammed his fist against it again with Janna speaking up.

"Allow me." She quickly put in the right combo and opened the locker for him with Marco's frustration ebbing slightly. "So, care to fill us in man? Rumors are flying around the school at this point given how you and Star have been acting differently." Marco sighed and nodded speaking up.

"I don't have an answer for Star yet; no matter how much I try to 'follow my heart' or 'rationalize things' I've got nothing, big fat fucking nothing!" Everyone blinked in shock as Marco openly cussed as he went through his locker. "I can't just turn her down if I don't know for sure as it might damage our friendship especially if I develop feelings for her later on down the line, I can't just accept her advances because if I don't have a crush on her it will hurt her eventually given how sensitive she is, and I can't just 'try things out' with her as she'll think I'm pandering to her in a bad way! I have got nothing and it's eating away at both of us every day. *sigh* And what's more I think our friendship has already been compromised. She's been acting rather distant with me since the incident. She doesn't talk to me that much, she hides in her room frequently, and she doesn't join me for bestie activities anymore. I get she thinks I need some space but man… this is way too much space." Marco leaned his head against a locker door sighing again with Starfan13 speaking up.

"Or like how her heater wasn't working and she refused you acting as her heater pillow despite how risky it was for her." Everyone turned to Starfan13 with unnerved looks on their faces. "What, I like keeping an eye on Star." Janna smiled slyly and nodded approvingly speaking up.

"You, I like your style." Alfonzo coughed getting everyone's attention before speaking up.

"Stalking aside maybe she's trying to just treat you as a friend now thinking you're not going to accept her and maybe distancing herself from you will help?" Marco looked at Alfonzo in shock before groaning and slammed his head into a locker hard enough to make everyone wince.

"Why does life have to be like this?" Janna gave him a look conveying how frustrated she was at the situation before speaking.

"Can't you just man up and make a choice already if this is eating at you so hard dude?" Marco slowly turned towards Janna glaring with a gaze that would cut through diamonds before speaking.

"Do you have a reply for Ferguson yet?" Janna went to answer but froze turning a brilliant crimson before she spat at Marco.

"Fuck you man!" She turned and ran off with Marco scoffing at her as he closed his locker.

"That's what I thought." He turned and walked away with Starfan13 speaking to Alfonzo.

"Speaking of which, you should confront Chloe about what she told you." Alfonzo blushed slightly nodding at that speaking up.

"I would, but she keeps on avoiding me; could you help me find her?"

* * *

Frustration didn't describe Marco's emotions right now, well they did but inadequately. He couldn't properly find words to describe it although shame would likely fit in with the various emotions right now. He knew he needed to make a decision and he knew how hard it was for Star but he just couldn't simply because, and this made him feel pathetic, he didn't trust himself. He tried looking for advice from other people but his friends likely would not provide much help, none of the teachers could provide support, and the school counselor told him to just follow his heart which didn't help. As for his parents, well they were more obsessed with the idea of Marco and Star getting together then helping him sort out the confusing emotions; in fact it probably made things worse for Star given how they may have harassed her. He groaned in frustration again as the school bell rang signaling the start of class with him deciding he was in no shape to go to class and would just cut it this once. He leaned back against the wall behind him as he tried thinking of someone who could help him and got nothing… well, almost nothing. Of course going to that person was risky simply because…

"*sigh* What options do I have? Star is taking medication twice a day at this point." Marco pulled out the mobile mirror and spoke to it. "Call Toffee." The mirror rang for a few seconds with Toffee picking up.

"Marco, what a pleasant…" He saw the state Marco was in and double took with a look of shock on his face. "Oh this is not good is it?"

"Um… is Moon around by any chance?" Toffee nodded and put Marco on hold. After a few tense minutes of silence the mirror was picked back up again with Moon and Toffee in the image with Moon speaking up.

"So Marco, what seems to be the issue?" Marco heaved a hefty sigh and began going into what had happened over the last few days.

The words started out hard at first but as the conversation progressed they began to flow more easily until if felt like he was vomiting up everything. He even went into great detail on how he didn't trust his own judgement bringing up the points Toffee had brought up with him on the concert night. Moon and Toffee said nothing listening to Marco quietly as he spoke until Marco reached the end of his rant nearly crying at that point.

"So now I don't know what to do, have no one to turn to, can't wait any longer, and don't trust myself in the slightest." He waited for a second before looking up at them double taking in shock as the duo were smiling at each other in an understanding way.

"Doesn't this just take you back my shining moon?"

"Indeed it does, in a way that is not entirely pleasant but funny enough looking back at it." Moon turned towards Marco speaking in an understanding manner. "Believe it or not we actually faced something similar. On my 15th birthday party we snuck out to have a private party with my friends in the woods. However during one song being played Toffee and I got caught up in the moment and kissed each other without fully thinking things through. It was an… awkward six weeks afterword to put it mildly."

"Or to put it another way, I ran and hid from it and Moon was in denial of it." Moon giggled at Toffee's words as he flashed her a quick lopsided grin. "Eventually Moon finally did confront me about it and I had to make a snap decision myself; fortunately by chance I chose the proper way to think about it and I'm going to tell you how I came by my conclusion. Don't ask yourself whether you have a crush on Star or not, ask yourself what Star means to you. How does she fit into your life and what would it be like without her in that spot? And don't worry I'm not going to come after you like a stereotypical father who thinks that no boy will ever be good enough for his girl; although you still have a bit of work to do..." Moon elbowed Toffee in the ribs hard enough to make him gasp as she spoke up.

"What he meant was there will be no pressure from us in the slightest. As strange as it may sound you will have to trust yourself and I am fairly certain you will know what the right answer is when you ask the right question. And for now…" She grabbed Toffee by his neckline pulling his head down to her level. "… all this talk of nostalgic awkward love has given me an… itch that needs scratching." Toffee spoke up sounding a bit confused.

"Really, this turns you on dear?" He then turned towards Marco speaking up. "This is the part where you end the call so you're not traumatized." Marco quickly hung up putting the mirror away to think.

He switched his mindset from deciding whether or not he had a crush on Star to asking himself what she meant to him and how she fit into his life. He spent about a total of 15 seconds before he actually got his answer startling him by how quickly he reached that conclusion. He also now knew what he had to do; he only hoped he would be able to find the right words to do it in the right way.

* * *

Star was playing _Age of Mythology_ and trying to keep her mind off of Marco but was having trouble doing either. She just couldn't shake the anxiety of what Marco might chose as it wasn't the choice itself she hated, it was waiting for him to make a choice. A soft mew from her lap made her idly stroke Nacho's fur with him nuzzling up to her trying to provide comfort. Star smiled down at him warmly feeling his purr echo through her body when a knock at the door startled her followed by Marco's voice.

"Star, can I talk to you for a minute. I have an answer." Star immediately stood up picking up Nacho who complained a little at the sudden change of location and ran for the door. "I get if it's not a good time…" Star flung the door open making Marco take a step back in shock as she spoke up.

"No um, now is good…" She paused upon seeing something floating by Marco's head. "What's the Truth Box doing here?"

"Oh I am here upon Marco's request to confirm that he is indeed telling the truth to you so there are no doubts in the slightest. Now then Marco, the truth." Marco nodded to it and turned towards Star speaking up.

"So Star… could you put Nacho down first he looks uncomfortable."

"Sorry!" Star set Nacho down who mewed in annoyance before he moved to the side and smoothed down his fur.

"Anyways, I have an answer for you but… let me explain why I made my decision before I give you my answer." Marco fidgeted his fingers nervously looking down slightly as if nervous to face Star. Star on the other hand was facing him with a look that held both fear and hope in an equally balanced mix. "Star… I had been pining for Jackie for nearly 8 years and she was the one who confessed to me; not I to her but her to me. And when the relationship started I focused too much on finally having accomplished that goal that… I didn't even have a plan for what came next. I was so in love with the idea of being with Jackie I didn't even stop to properly consider what I might do if I succeeded in hindsight. And now seeing my best friend, someone who I have only known for about six months or so including that time when we were four, confess to me even if prompted by the Truth Box… it makes me realize what I am. I'm a coward Star, an insecure and immature coward who didn't even pick up on signals I should have seen a mile away when it came to you. The worst part is I actually had to get the truth of what was wrong with me from your own father in a painful manner as well in order to finally accept it." Star blinked in shock at this and spoke up.

"Wait, dad contacted you about what has happened between us in the past; even when I told him not to?!" Marco saw Star get mad and calmed her down quickly.

"I was the one who contacted him Star because I felt like I needed the truth ok?" Star glanced over to the Truth Box who gave her the truth screen confirming Marco's words. "But that's beside the point, the point is through all this I'm not sure if I trust myself to be a good boyfriend or even a good friend at this point. Mostly because I was so focused on just taking care of you and being Jackie's boyfriend and everything else I… abused both relationships and didn't really notice what was going on with you. I was so focused on getting Jackie that the idea of another person being 'the one' didn't even rear its head. So first off I would like to apologize to you for… not being sensitive enough to notice when I failed. As for what I feel towards you… I was extremely conflicted on that as I had not even considered it and was asking the wrong questions to myself. Once again, your parents actually helped me out on this one." Star chuckled nervously and pulled some stray hair behind her ear.

"Yeah they are pretty good with everything."

"Regardless, they told me about the proper question to ask myself; what you meant to me. After thinking about that everything slipped into place in my mind at long last." Star sharply in took some breath and held it as his answer had finally come.

 **Kingdom Hearts II Soundtrack- Sanctuary (** **watch?v=HTUq3Ik1GHM)**

"Star you are my bestie… and so much more than that. I've gotten to know you as a person better then I think I ever could with anyone else in my life. We know each other so well that some stuff people would find strange to do comes second nature to us. We snuggle beneath our friendship blanket every Thursday, we go on life changing adventures all the time, we risk life and limb for each other, we leap to help each other when we're mentally or emotionally troubled, hell we even sleep together some nights. I wanted to improve myself at Toffee's harsh words of truth, but you might be my motivation. I want to be the best me I can be just to take care of you and to be taken care of by you. I want to make my late night nachos for you, I want to be your therapist, to be your heater pillow, to be the friend you go on adventures with. In essence, I want to share life with you and I… want to love you and for you to love me back. Not for a week, not for year, but for as long as possible I want to be with you. You've come into my life and given me purpose that I never knew I needed so I don't just want you… I need to be your boyfriend. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Truth!" Marco finally heaved a few breaths waiting for Star's reply as the Truth Box confirmed his words. He felt as if he just vomited everything up getting a jittery vulnerable feeling throughout his body. He figured he had messed it up but at least it was now over. As no reply came from Star Marco finally dared to look up and double took at her watery eyes and her goofy and relived smile. Before Marco could say another word though Star grabbed and pulled him into a hug that made his bones creak while sobbing.

"MArco *sniff* I've been so loNEly." Marco felt the pressure increase with him gasping for air. "I thought no one worthwhile would look at me that way Marco because I'm *sniff* a half-blooded freak. Most people wouldn't approach me because I look ugly and many more would be deterred by my high position as a princess. *sniff* The few who would dare come to me would be because they just wanted to be king and *sniff* the privileges that come with it. And when Tom turned out the way he was *sob* I thought I could trust no one to be that close to me." Marco gasped trying to get air into his lungs as Star's grip tightened even more. "I felt like I was going to alienate my best friend by getting a crush on him but *sniff* the fact you feel the same way about me *sob* THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" Marco felt something snap in his body with a sharp pain shooting out from it, fortunately Star noticed that. "Marco… MARCO!" Star set Marco down on her bed as he gasped for breath with her retrieving her wand using a new spell she had learned. "LEUS HAAL" Marco felt his body completely heal from the snap with him speaking up.

"Wow, no more tentacle arm eh?" Star grabbed him again being gentler in the hug.

"I am so sorry Marco, I just don't know my own strength and…" Star felt the tension lift however when his arms came around her holding her close.

"It's ok Star everything is fine. I like that strength of yours to be honest, so long as you don't kill me with it." Star snuggled in close to him with Marco holding her close for a second before continuing. "Also, if this is the best day of your life there are going to be… plenty more than where that came from." The two let out exhausted chuckles and sobs feeling completely drained like an empty bathtub.

They pulled away from each other to arm's length sitting on Star's bed with her sparkling purplish-green eyes locking with his warm chocolate eyes. They stared at each other not noticing the Truth Box shut down with Nacho and the laser puppies watching them silently. After what seemed like an eternity Marco and Star began leaning in close to each other with their faces getting closer by millimeters. If this were a cheap romance story something would intervene to stop the kiss from happening or make it awkward, but the author to this story is sick of those clichés himself. Their lips met, uninterrupted and without a sense of forced drama upon it, and they pulled each other in close to savor their first kiss. It didn't feel like any kiss that they had before this point with others; not an awkward smooch, not burning hot, not like lightning, not too rough, not even just pressing against each other. It felt warm and comforting, like taking off your shoes and stretching out after a long hard day knowing you were in for a long peaceful rest with everything you liked. They held that kiss for the longest time feeling an additional tingling sensation in their cheeks like a strange type of blush. As they finally pulled back to look at each other Marco saw Star's marks were glowing a light pink and Star saw he had crescent moon shaped cheek marks that were glowing a brilliant white.

"Marco… your cheeks." Star spoke in dazed manner as Marco felt his own cheeks feeling the heat come from his marks.

"That… must be from when I used your wand at St. Olga's. Guess we're cheek buddies to." The two giggled with Star looking at him dreamily and speaking softly.

"We are everything buddies now Marco," She pulled in close for a hug snuggling up next to him. "for as long as we are together." They sat there in each other's embrace enjoying to relief and comfort of being with each other until they heard Nacho give out a single mew.

 **(end music)**

"Oh hey Nacho, what's up?" Marco spoke with both of them turning to Nacho who batted at their feet and gestured at the door. "Hmmm… oh yeah tonight is friendship Thursday, what movie do you wanna watch?" Marco turned towards Star who smiled feeling light and bubbly as she replied.

"How about 'Beauty and the Beast'? Everyone has advocated for it Marco so let's see it." Marco nodded before responding.

"You know what, sure let's see that." Star giggled and kissed his cheek softly before getting up and moving out of the room calling back to him.

"I'm getting in my pj's this evening, you do what you want." Star waved to him flirtatiously as she bounded away leaving Marco with a warm sensation inside of him.

"Yeah, I should do the same." He spoke softly to himself with Nacho batting at his feet impatiently. "Aright alright I'll get moving so you can snuggle with us but this is our first date so don't come between us too much got it?" Nacho nodded demurely as he padded off with Marco getting ready to make his nachos.

 **And with that, the love drama between Star and Marco is finished. :')**


	62. Star-crossed Lovers Pt 2

Marco finished fixing up his nachos feeling a light eagerness to his step despite his exhaustion from the last few days as he moved into the living room. He saw Star had curled up under the friendship blanket and seemed to be rubbing it all over herself as if relishing the feel for some reason. He could also see that her tail was twitching and wriggling a lot which it normally didn't do, almost as if her glee was giving it life as well. Marco felt a content if slightly goofy smile cross his face as he moved in under the blanket setting the nachos on the coffee table. Star blinked her eyes open which at the moment seemed to be in a perpetual state of purplish-green of when she was really happy. Marco felt the world drift away as he looked into those eyes; he had always thought they were beautiful in that color but now that they were a couple…

"Are you ok Marco?" Marco was pulled out of his gazing when Star looked at him worried.

"I um uh… just… *sigh* can't stop looking at you. You're really pretty, especially your eyes." Star blinked in confusion looking down bashfully.

"I… I'm not pretty Marco." Marco felt a wave of sadness go through him as he was reminded yet again of how hard Star had it when it came to love.

"Well I think you are and there's nothing you can do about it." He pulled her onto his lap kissing her forehead before snuggling with her.

Star practically melted into his arms as she grabbed onto him, snuggling in close, wrapped her tail around him, and locked her head into the crook between his neck and shoulder. It wasn't unusual for them to cuddle and hug like that as friends but now it felt more… right somehow. They sat like that for what felt like a long time just relishing each other's company until Star spoke up again.

"So what is this movie about?" Marco chuckled and replied as he hit the remote to start it.

"It's actually a love story between an odd girl that is a bit of an outcast and a jerk who was cursed to be a… beast until he could learn to love. But it's actually best for you to just watch it yourself with little knowledge." Star nodded and settled in next to him wrapping her arms around him and wrapping the blanket around them like a cocoon.

Marco smiled looking down at her quite eagerness not really noticing the movie start. He actually really did like that movie despite how it should not have been in his personal taste however he had seen it multiple times so he didn't really need to focus. Which was a good thing as Star's eyes just drew him in even from the angle they were at and left him floating in a sea of serenity. Throughout the movie Marco could clearly see Star was enjoying herself given how she gawked at the screen and even sang along with some of the songs. Throughout the movie he also fed Star nachos so she wouldn't have to let go of him making her smile in the cutest fashion when she realized what he was doing. Occasionally he would look down at her and get lost in her eyes which didn't bother Star fortunately, but it did result in him kissing her forehead or cheek after a few seconds of this which did make Star giggle gleefully. He also noticed strangely enough that occasionally Star would rub her hand around his abdominal region which didn't feel bad just very weird. At the big scene where Belle and the Beast danced Star gazed in particular awe crying slightly at it; which prompted another kiss on the cheek for her but he was not sure if it made her better or worse as she continued to cry happily watching it. As the movie wrapped up Star began crying happily again pulling herself in close to Marco with a massive grin on her face.

"I loved that movie so much, especially the scene where Belle and the Beast danced. It felt like our dance at the Blood Moon Ball except less awkward afterword." Marco nodded feeling Star's hand across his abdominal region again. He had a theory as to why Star was doing this now though and tested it out by flexing his abs so she was running her hand across slightly defined abs. Her girly giggle at feeling them told Marco everything he needed to know with Star realizing she had just given herself away. "Oh Marco… I um… just…" Marco chuckled at that speaking up trying to relax Star.

"It's ok Star, in fact that gives me a bit of confidence about my body you being into… my abs." Star and Marco chuckled awkwardly at that. "Say Star um… can I… possibly… touch your tail?" Star blinked in confusion at this looking up at him in surprised. "I just… well I was always interested in what having a tail would be like as a kid honestly. And the fact that you have one is just so…" He was cut off however when he felt something smooth wriggle its way into his hand.

Looking down in confusion he pulled back the blanket to see that Star had wormed her tail into his hand with it wriggling slightly at the contact with him. He looked back at Star who had an almost coy smile on her face as she rubbed one hand on his still clenched abs and the other in his hair. Marco shrugged off the confusion and turned back to the tail keeping his abs clenched so Star could indulge. He reached over with his other hand and ran them both up and down her tail eliciting a content moan from Star making her lean in close to him. Her tail just felt so smooth and pliable like soft leather and moved under his hands like a living thing, which it technically was. Marco stared at the thing in his hands in fascination as Star leaned over and inhaled the scent of his hair deeply rubbing her cheek up next to his.

"mmmmmm, you smell so nice Marco and you're so warm. I could just hug you all day without pulling my face away from you." Marco blushed at that feeling a light playful bubbliness emerge inside of him. "And the way you rub my tail… mmmm it just feels so relaxing." Marco smiled and turned his face enough so he could kiss Star's cheek before speaking.

"Well we can do this whenever you want to now; you're my girlfriend after all." He smiled playfully as Star seemed to shudder happily at his words.

"Say that last part again."

"You're my girlfriend." Star giggled at that rubbing her nose with Marco's in an adorable fashion.

After their boop they stared into each other's eyes getting lost in them for a little while before pulling in for their second kiss. It felt just like the first one, soothing and relaxing making them feel content as they pulled away after a short while. As they parted Marco finally felt the exhaustion of the last few days get to him and he swayed nearly falling on top of Star who giggled at him.

"I take it you're a bit exhausted huh Marco?" Marco nodded dumbly with Star heaving him up bridal style. "Well let's get you to bed then." She carried Marco up the stairs with Marco snuggling up in her arms blushing slightly.

When they got upstairs Star immediately took him to her room and laid him under the covers with her getting in and slipping into his arms. Instead of grabbing onto him like she often did however she turned around so they were spooning with her being the small spook to his big spoon. As they settled Star heard a slight whisper of 'goodnight Star' from Marco which made her shiver slightly before replying in a whisper.

"Goodnight Marco."

* * *

The next morning Star blinked her eyes open slowly reaching her hand up to rub the sleep out of it. As she did so she felt a grip around her body tighten with a content moan coming from behind her as Marco rubbed his body up next to her. Star smiled to herself as she let the memories of yesterday wash over her along with the sensation of his warm body next to hers. 'This is just so ni… wait what's tha…' Star blushed profusely as she realized something very hard around Marco's nether regions was actually rubbing up against her. 'Well… guess he does find me physically attractive.' At this Star also noticed one of his hands was cupping one of her breasts making the blush deepen even more. 'Still this… feels rather nice.' It felt embarrassing but it did make her feel safe and secure; it was probably going to make Marco rather shocked when he woke up. Star giggled and looked at the alarm clock on her nightstand showing she had a few minutes before it went off so she reached over to turn it off and relish in the feeling of Marco next to her. 'Say I wonder if…' Star rubbed her tail along Marco's leg prompting him to rub up against her making Star giggle at how easily he could be pushed. As she did it again however Marco groaned and moved about waking up with a big yawn.

"Huh?" Marco blinked groggily trying to get a clear idea of what was going on with Star rolling around to face him.

"Good morning Marco. Did you sleep just as well as I did?" She kissed him softly on the nose helping him wake up quickly.

"Oh um yeah I did. Good Morning Star." As Marco finished getting his bearings Star sat up somewhat reluctantly and yawned stretching out.

"Well the alarm was about to go off so let's get moving." Marco nodded in agreement and went to get up but hesitated for a second before getting a mortified expression on his face as he tried covering himself up, prompting Star to speak out. "Don't worry about 'lil Marco' he's cool." Marco froze glancing over at Star as she giggled at him again. "I know you can't control him so no need to feel ashamed. Anyways you should get back to your room before I begin changing as I think I'm making him a bit too excited hmmm." Star raised an eyebrow with Marco looking away blushing at that.

"Ok, but please don't bring this up with anyone, especially our parents." Star nodded in promise as Marco moved out with Star changing.

She did her normal routine but stopped when she went to put on her typical informal black dress as it didn't 'feel right' for some reason at this point. She thought long and hard about it before moving to her closet and pushing aside her selection of black dresses to see her other cloths. She hadn't worn anything but black dresses for a long time so she didn't know if those clothes would even fit at this point. She spent a couple minutes picking and choosing before she finally pulled out some cloths and put them on zapping them with her wand to properly size them. She then gazed at her image and after a few more seconds of consideration she took a different head band as well to keep her hair back. The final image was of her wearing a pink t-shirt covered in white hearts, a turquoise skirt with narwhals along the top and bottom bands, pink and purple striped leggings, purple boots with a spike on the tip, and a green headband with two white spotted pink toadstools on them instead of devil horns. She giggled at her image with it feeling right and stepped out to see Marco was in his normal getup and waiting for her.

"Say Star what took… whoa." Marco gazed at her new clothes with Star twirling around giggling at him.

"So, what do you think?" Marco looked her over and smiled broadly before giving her two thumbs up.

"I love it! Now let's get down to breakfast, I'm fairly certain mom and dad are gonna want a full description of what has just happened between us."

"Ok, can you hold this for me then?" Marco looked down in confusion.

"That's your hand." Star nodded eagerly with Marco taking it smiling sweetly at her as they both went downstairs. They went down the steps side by side and rounded the corner to the living room to be greeted by Marco's parents and…

"Dad!" Star spoke in shock as her dad turned towards them showing he was wearing a white shirt with a purple vest over it and brown pants, what looked to be informal garb for him, as he spoke up.

"Oh dear you're finally up, wonderful to see you again. Moon volunteered to prepare breakfast and is in the kitchen right now." He gestured over to the kitchen where Moon was indeed working with her hair tied back and in her informal wear as well. "She's making your favorite, bacon pancakes." Star licked her lips in a reactionary fashion as Marco heard singing coming from the kitchen.

"Bacon pancakes, makin bacon pancakes. Take some bacon and you put it in a pancake. Bacon pancakes, that's what it's gonna make; bacon pancaaaaaaakes!" Moon finished one as she was singing and flipped it onto one of two stacks piled high with Star speaking up.

"Um, nice to see this but why are you guys here?" The adults all chuckled at Star's question with Angie speaking up.

"They decided to come by to celebrate you two becoming a couple." The four adults all pulled out little confetti poppers and popped them with a small cheer. "Oh you two look so cute with each other, I need to take a picture of this!" Angie pulled out a camera and photographed Star and Marco holding hands in the living room entrance with Marco speaking.

"W-wait up here, how did you know about that?" Raphael chuckled before taking his turn to speak.

"Oh when you contacted Moon and Toffee about drama with Star they contacted us saying you were likely going to become a couple." Star and Marco stared at them in confusion for a second. "Oh come on you two were practically acting like a couple even when Marco was with Jackie, we figured with this drama having come up you two getting together was guarantee. Also we confirmed it with the security camera in the living room." He pointed out a nearly unnoticeable camera that had caught the two watching _Beauty and the Beast_ last night. Star blushed looking down bashfully and Marco face palmed at that speaking up.

"I thought you guys had disconnected that a long time ago." He groaned a little and straightened up facing the four boldly. "Well you are right, Star and I are a couple and we would much appreciate it if you would give us space to let things unfold naturally." The parents all nodded with Moon speaking up.

"Well now that that's out of the way you two should eat up and get to school." The two nodded as Moon levitated two stacks of syrup slathered bacon pancakes to their places at the table which they started eating with gusto.

"Say these are pretty good, do you mind showing me how to make them?" Marco asked up to Moon who gazed at him fondly before replying.

"Of course, you need to make them for your girlfriend after all." She giggled and winked at Marco as he began eating again

About half-way through his stack he began to feel full and noticed Star had finished hers already and was waiting for more with puppy-dog eyes. Marco smiled at her puppy-dog eyes and lifted his fork to her with some pancake on it getting Star's attention. Star blinked in confusion for a second before she smiled cheerfully and ate it off of his fork giggling in glee. As he continued to feed her Star eventually just climbed onto his lap to shorten the distance so he could feed her faster. As he fed her they wound up staring into each other's eyes feeling a sense of content bliss spread through them. Marco stopped feeding Star however when he noticed there was no sound going on around them; the adults had stopped talking and bacon pancake production had stopped. Marco froze mid feed with Star looking at the fork longingly and sent out her 5-inch long tongue to swipe it away but froze looking at something to the side. Marco turned to look and double took when he saw both their parents were recording this in some way. Raphael was painting a portrait of them, Angie was taking photos, Moon was recording with a mirror, and Toffee had a recording camera he was using. The four adults all had exceedingly happy grins on their faces, including Toffee whose smile looked a little disturbing on his normally monotone lizard face. Star and Marco looked at each other a might bit shocked and pulled apart with Marco pushing Star his pancakes for her to finish. This made the adults groan in protest as they put their items away with Moon speaking up.

"Our girl brings home a boy and doesn't let us record all the cute moments when she shows them off to us? Insanity I say." She turned back to making more bacon pancakes for the rest of the family. After Star finished Marco's stack she and Marco got up and got going for school.

"Bye mom and dad, see you soon." Star waved at her parents as she and Marco ran for school with Star skipping in her stride.

"See you later sweetie." Toffee waved her on and glanced at Moon who had a tear in her eye as she watched them go. "Moonpie, are you getting sad at watching our little girl grow up." Moon shook her head turning to him with a smile on her face as she responded.

"Did you see what Star was wearing? She hasn't willingly worn anything but black dresses since she was ten." Moon grabbing onto Toffee crying happily. "That boy has made our daughter a bright star once again!" Toffee held Moon close smiling as she cried into his chest responding quietly.

"I don't normally jump to conclusions that quickly, but indeed he has sweetie, indeed he has." Their reverie was broken by Raphael calling out to them.

"Come here, I recorded them kissing during their night on the lips!" The two immediately came running to see the event with everyone giving a sigh of happiness when the two pushed their lips together. Toffee's keen eye however caught something when they kissed, a light flash on their cheeks.

"Moon dear, did you see that?" Moon blinked for a second as if grasping what he had been asking and nodded. "Should we be worried?" Moon shook her head no and turned back to Toffee relying quietly.

"That sometimes happens when a boy has used the Butterfly wand and comes in close loving contact with a member of the Butterfly family… wait. When did Marco use Star's wand?" Angie shrugged in confusion at this with Raphael rubbing his chin questioningly speaking up.

"Marco, you got some splainin to do."

* * *

For most people it was a pretty normal Friday with kids rushing around and talking with each other about mostly small stuff. Today however there were two major topics of conversation that took up the majority of pre-class time. First off was the approaching summer vacation and the end of year school dance that would kick it off. Summer vacation was delayed for their school because of the many repairs the school had to go through due to Star's influence, not that anyone was complaining that hard. And the end of year dance was something many students have been hoping to push for years and finally, thanks to Star's influence on Mr. Lancer, it was becoming a reality. The second one was a bit more tense about a rumor of Star confessing to Marco and him not having a reply to her yet. Everyone was worried what would happen if Marco rejected Star but a bigger concern was that their ship might be coming into fruition. Ever since the night Marco carried Star home from Brittany's party a group of Starco shippers had slowly but steadily been growing even when Marco was with Jackie. As Marco and Star arrived many of the kids stopped what they were doing and stared as they saw the pair going through the hallways. Star was dressed in different cloths then the usual and was skipping along with a slight bounce as she held Marco's hand while Marco was staring at Star's happy expression with a dopey grin as he walked alongside her.

"Hey, you two should kiss." The duo turned in confusion to see Starfan13 standing not far away calling out to them.

Everyone waited in tense silence for a second until Marco and Star shrugged and turned to each other locking lips while hugging each other close. A brief flash of light came from their cheeks from Star's marks and some sort of moon shape from Marco's cheeks. As they parted everyone around them started cheering and throwing confetti that they had for some reason startling Marco enough to jump into Star's arms. The two looked around in shock as everyone finished cheering and ran off chanting 'Starco, Starco, Starco!' They both blushed slightly with Star letting Marco down as Chloe, Janna, Jackie, and Starfan 13 approached them with big smiles on their faces with Jackie speaking up.

"Nice to see you two together at long last man." Janna spoke up in accompaniment.

"It's about time you two." Marco looked to the side rubbing the back of his bashfully as Star spoke up.

"Wow, a lot of people were hoping we would get together. Are we really that big of a thing?" Chloe spoke up at this eagerly.

"Of course you are; when people look at you they think 'dream couple'." Jackie spoke up again smiling at Marco with relief in her voice.

"So dude, nice to see you come forward about your feelings at long last; it's a relief man." Marco nodded and spoke up.

"Well I got some advice that helped me out immensely, else I would still be stuck in limbo right now. I stopped asking whether or not I had a crush on Star but what she meant to me. When I put it that way it seemed so simply I'm surprised I hadn't noticed it before honestly." As everyone nodded at that Janna got an intrigued look on her face as if she was actually listening to Marco for once. "Say we should probably get to class, see you guys later." The group parted with Star speaking up to Marco.

"Can you hold this for me?" Marco looked down and smiled before speaking.

"That's your hand." He then grabbed it making Star giggle in glee as they walked to class with the other girls giving a sigh at how cute they looked. Janna however had a new determined look on her face as she got to class.

 **To be honest I was considering cutting this part of the episode because it's mostly just fluff of Star and Marco being a couple. then again it was fluff of Star and Marco being a couple so I wound up wanting to put it in.**

 **Also I read the comments on this and damn... there is a bit of hate on for the show here! Understandable but still. Anyways, let's get the next part finished so I can get back to the story's plot. (Also Marco doesn't have any magical powers, I just lit up the cheeks to show thier connection with each other.)**


	63. Star-crossed Lovers Pt 3

Chloe got out of class and headed to her locker before heading home hoping to get there as fast as possible. She had ideas for her new artwork that she hoped to act on as quickly as possible thanks to Star and Marco coming together like they had earlier. As she was mulling over the ideas to find the best one to start on however she ran headlong into Alfonzo startling her something fierce. As she turned to move away she slipped on something on the floor landing on her back and staring at the ceiling as everything she was holding fell into a mess. Whining anxiously she tried to sit up with Alfonzo collecting her things while he spoke up.

"Sorry about that Chloe but I really need to speak with-"

"There's nothing to speak about ok."

"Nothing? You said you had a crush on me and have been avoiding me ever since. I thought we were becoming friends ever since history day so we need to sort this out like how Marco and Star sorted it out." Chloe attempted to get up but slipped again with Alfonzo offering her a hand. "Sorry, I had Starfan13 smear the floor with oil so you would not run away." Chloe glanced over to see Starfan13 who was looking at them from a distance making Chloe groan in annoyance as she took his hand.

"Look, I don't want to talk about so could we just pretend that never happened ok?" Alfonzo shook his head helping her up before speaking.

"Not at this point; come on what's so bad that we can't address this." At this Chloe began to shake in nervousness prompting Alfonzo to change tactics. "Perhaps a more quite area would be best." He took Chloe's hand and pulled her to closet that Star was put in during her Mewberty phase. When Chloe tried to struggle Starfan13 helped Alfonzo out in pushing her into the closet. "And don't' worry we will be able to get out of there, Janna rigged the door shortly after the Mewberty incident." Chloe tried struggling but didn't let out much noise for some reason as she and Alfonzo were pulled into the closet with Starfan13 calling from outside.

"Good luck sorting things out people, I'll see you later." As she walked off Alfonzo turned back to Chloe who was shaking in the corner.

"Chloe, what is it that is really so bad, would it really keep us from staying friends." Chloe nodded after hesitating a few seconds which didn't seem to faze Alfonzo. "Look those issues are usually not as bad as they seem ok; I'm pretty laid back to those types of things. At least I think I am it may be I just don't react that much to stuff when I should." Chloe shuddered for a minute while Alfonzo did a little quick contemplation. After a little while Chloe realized she didn't have much choice so mentally as well as emotionally prepared herself for Alfonzo's anger at what she had done to Star as well as the rest of the school. As she went to speak however Alfonzo cut her off. "And if you think you are surprise me with who you really are Brittany I figured that out a while back." Absolute silence gripped the two as Alfonzo waited for Chloe (Brittany's) reaction to that revelation.

"Wha… you… how…"

"Chloe Park… you used the name of our best friend from several years ago didn't you?" Brittany blinked in confusion at this with Alfonzo continuing. "I do get you don't really remember me, most of our interactions were not that impactful." At this a loose memory threaded into Brittany's mind from several years ago.

* * *

 _"Hey Chloe, are you done yet? Say who is this guy?" Brittany spoke to Chloe who was working on something at home with a shorter and better proportioned Alfonzo with Chloe speaking up._

 _"Just a few more minutes and this is Alfonzo, my partner from science class." Alfonzo looked at Brittany and then looked down trying not to make eye contact. "He's just really shy around new people thanks to something called 'Autisim' or whatever it is; he was like that when I first met him." Brittany kneeled down next to him speaking to him slowly._

 _"Nice to meet you, can we be friends? I can always use more friends." Alfonzo shuddered a little and nodded yes with Brittany brightening up._

* * *

"I… forgot you." Brittany spoke in shock as Alfonzo responded.

"Not surprising, most people tend to forget about me at some point outside of my current group of friends." He then gave out a bitter chuckle "Not that I made that much of an impact to begin with." At this Brittany began crying with Alfonzo getting a shocked look as he watched her not sure of what to do.

"I'm sorry Alfonzo, I killed Chloe!" She held her legs close and buried her head into her knees as the sobbing increased. " I… I was just trying to help her bu… *sob* but I fell into the plastic bitch trap! *Sob* I alienated her and she killed herself because of that. *sob* I-I blocked it out and felt nothing over that until the night I went after Star *sob* and I left you without any friends as well." At that Alfonzo actually put a hand on her shoulder speaking softly.

"You're not the only one who left Chloe out in the cold." Brittany looked up again shivering slightly as Alfonzo told his story.

* * *

 _"Alfonzo, are you there? Please answer." Alfonzo twitched a little as he heard the door being knocked on and Chloe's voice coming up from below._

 _He wasn't comfortable with this; he didn't know why he just wasn't comfortable with this. The way her voice was sounding, the fact his dad wasn't home again, or maybe because he just wanted to be alone but whatever it was he wasn't comfortable with this. He ignored Chloe's frantic voice until Chloe quieted down and walked away from his house. He did wonder why she was out tonight and why her parents weren't around to bring her over or just lead her around. He never left the house without his dad around unless he was going to school after all. He shook his head and went back to reading deciding he would talk to her tomorrow…_

* * *

"… only I never did, and I never forgave myself for that. I didn't grasp at the time stuff like that could happen or that Chloe's parents were overseas like they were often but I still could have done something. In fact the only thing that separates me from you is that I didn't block it out and took steps to not let anything like that happen again. *sigh* And the reason why I don't hate you is because you have taken steps now, better late than never huh?" He smiled sadly at her as Brittany shook her head no.

"I alienated her Alfonzo; I left her in the dust as I climbed the ladder to make life for us better and then-"

"-you got caught up in everything and didn't realize how serious everything was until it was too late. Brittany, if you weren't a good person you wouldn't be feeling guilt right now or thinking you're not good enough for me. Perhaps you just need to… heal, and I can help you do that. Did I put it right?" Brittany looked at him nodding slowly before hugging him and sobbing slightly.

"I'm sorry Alfonzo *sniff* for being such a horrible person." Brittany cried out all her pain at what she had done knowing there was no way for her to take it back. Alfonzo just held her silently letting his own tears fall at what a horrible job he had done to help Chloe stay happy and keep Brittany from going so far while losing who she was for a while.

* * *

Ferguson was out looking through a clover patch for a four leaf clover and not doing so well given how his considerable bulk kept him from leaning over very effectively. Despite what he might say about his body being fluffy, he knew it impeded him a lot and had been trying to slim down but it was just so damn hard for him. Grunting in annoyance he looked through them patch by patch hoping to test out the theory in the Mewman chapter they 'borrowed' that four-leaf clovers could-

"Hey I already searched through there." Ferguson leapt in the air in shock, an impressive feat considering his size, and turned to see Janna leaning next to a tree with a nervous smile on her face.

"Well you could have told me earlier." He stood up as Janna stepped out rubbing her arm a little awkwardly.

"Yeah, about that… sorry for not stepping forward earlier." Ferguson sighed in annoyance as he knew Janna had something to get off her chest given her attitude. "You remember the other day with the box?" Ferguson nodded and sighed again this time in a tired manner.

"Yeah look, I know you're not interested…"

"Could you listen to me man!" Ferguson clamed up at how forceful she was with her words as she continued. "Sorry but I just want to… grr this is more difficult than I thought it would be." Janna kicked the ground in annoyance. "Well Ferguson, I wanted to apologize first for leaving you high and dry like that. I was just… caught off guard but not for the reason you might think." Ferguson scoffed slightly and folded his arms as she continued. "I mean… why do you have a crush on me in the first place? I thought you just viewed me as a 'guy' friend in a girl's body like everyone else." Ferguson blinked in confusion completely taken off guard by Janna's vulnerable statement as he answered.

"Well, you're amazing. You like magic, you like history and literature, you like role playing games, you like… well stuff girls just aren't supposed to like even in this liberal time. Do you know how many girls, and guys for that matter, would walk away if you started talking about practical magic methods? You on the other hand latched onto that with genuine interest and passion that matches my own. We just have this 'thing' that we connect on so many levels too that you just come across as… awesome. Plus you have this bad girl punk attitude that scares me and excites me in a way that I can't just turn away from. At first I didn't hit on you like with other girls because we got along so well but as time passed I realized what I felt for you was just..." Ferguson trailed off at that looking down with a strange look of despair on his face as Janna spoke up quickly.

"Dude don't beat yourself down so much, you're a pretty cool guy too." Ferguson looked up with doubt on his face. "No really, you're pretty cool man. You actually go along with my schemes when it comes to pranks and when you're pranked you just shrug them off chuckling. You like magic in the way I do, not just a fantasy thing that people joke about at a distance but actually wanting to use it practically. You also like to talk with me about cool and creepy stuff like medieval torture methods and ancient pagan rituals. In fact… I get along better with you then my past crush, Marco." Ferguson blinked in shock at this as Janna rubbed her arm nervously. "I did have a crush on Marco but I could tell we would never get along like that after a while; and I spent that night indulging in too much cookie dough Ice Cream." Ferguson's look turned to understanding concern at her vulnerability as Janna sat on the ground looking up to the sky. "Ironically I also got the advice I needed from him to finally answer your confession properly. Ferguson… I actually want to give us a try." A thud signaling Ferguson had fallen to the ground made Janna look to him in concern. "And I am not pulling a prank on you this time I'm serous man, I want to actually try being a thing with you. You are an awesome guy to me and we get along so well that perhaps we should try being more I mean… you are actually pretty cute despite what you think of yourself." Ferguson blinked as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened speaking up.

"Did you just accept my confession?" Janna nodded in an uncharacteristically bashful way as he turned to his belly. "Hey man, help me out here!" He pulled his belly out which spoke to him. " _Sorry man, I'm here to just get you the girl, it's your problem to keep her once I've got her."_ A laugh startled Ferguson up as he saw Janna was laughing at him in a good natured way that made him flush in a way that actually felt good.

"Like that man, the way you talk to your belly is kind of cute in a surreal way; it's you being you." Ferguson smiled at that with them staring at each other for a minute, until Janna's smile took on a devilish tone that looked far more familiar. "So, what do want to do now boyfriend?" Ferguson opened his mouth and paused a second before speaking.

"I don't know, I didn't think I'd get this fa-eep!" He leaned back as he realized Janna had crawled up to put her face within a few inches of his.

"Oh come on now don't run away from me now that I've accepted your contract mighty sorcerer." Janna leaned in close enough for Ferguson to smell her breath… and apparently for her to smell his as she inhaled deeply. "Mmmmm Minty freshness, you sure do know how to make yourself appealing." She leaned into his face pressing her lips against his with Ferguson's mind shutting down except for a single train of thought.

'I'm kissing a girl, I'm kissing a girl, I'm kissing a girl, I'm kissing a… oh screw this, go time means go time.' He grabbed onto Janna and pulled her in close with her falling on top of him as they fell into a short make out session. After a few seconds of this they pulled back from each other with Ferguson speaking. "Perhaps Ang Anino would like to go someplace more private for the official signing." Janna chuckled as he used her 'witch' name and responded with his 'sorcerer' name.

"Alright then Bartok the Magnificent, let's make some magic." As they realized what they both said Janna started backtracking really quickly. "And not too far, despite how I may act I am not that kind of girl." Ferguson breathed a sigh of relief at that and backtracked as well.

"Yeah, my heart wasn't ready for going that far despite how I act as well." They stared at each other a couple of seconds before chuckling and getting back up to go home.

* * *

"So you're saying Antman is good Marco?" As Marco nodded to Star's words Star's mirror suddenly vibrated. She picked it up opening it to look at it and went wide eyed and squealed slightly showing Marco her mirror. "Oh it feels like love is in the air!" Marco looked at it and his face went blank as he read part of the message aloud.

"Ferguson and Janna have become a thing as well as Alfonzo and Chloe?! Why the hell does this feel like a convenient wrap up by an author to tie together loose ends?" Star pouted at Marco a little bit speaking back up.

"Oh don't be so pessimistic, it's nice to see things turned out all right for everyone right?" She flashed him doe eyes as he responded.

"Yeah that is true." Star smiled again and twirled a little letting her hair fly around her. Marco stared at Star and felt a light bubbly feeling inside at seeing her so free, happy, and talkative. She was so bubbly and cheerful that when he really thought about it he got a little disconcerted with how she was acting; especially at how flirtatious she was that morning. He then shook his head blushing slightly as he thought 'Perhaps I'm thinking too much into this, Star is happy after all and I just want to see her happy.' He smiled again and spoke up to Star. "Say, I know this may be a redundant question but would you like to go to the school dance with me?" Star stopped twirling and skipping to think for a few seconds before answering.

"Of course I would Marco, let's get everyone to come and bring a date. Oh and we have a full summer to prepare for; I wanna see everything you can fit into that time so let's get planning!" She grabbed Marco's hand and began pulling him along with Marco smiling at this his latent doubts dissipating as he thought to himself.

'Star and I are together and summer is just about to start, for once I don't think I need to be worried.'

* * *

The endless void of space was a lifeless place with not even enough air to breath in most parts of it. However the winds of magic can do strange things even to the point where they can create a somewhat livable environment if not a pleasant one. These places occurred around portal off shoots, places where if a person just rips open a portal at random the portal will lead there. In this such place pieces of junk floated about, be they genuine garbage or lost treasures from eons ago it mattered not at this point, they were all just junk. An eerie silence hung over this cold dead place like life simply did not exist… that is until the portal ripped open with its notable sound shattering the silence. As it did so a screaming figure fell through the portal wrapped in ragged clothing and dropping a sword as she floated through the void. After flipping head over heels for a few seconds she slowed down to a stop to witness the portal close behind her leaving her stranded in this cold dead place. Looking around for a second she got her bearings and then just stared into the void with a cold fear.

"Where am I?" Mavis Butterfly asked no one.

 **Well I' finally finished with the romance drama for the most part, I hope. Well it was nice working out the romances and getting in some funny bits but for now its t** **ime to see how Mavis works in 'The Wild'** **... BACK TO THE ACTION!**


	64. Mavis in the Wild Pt 1

**WH : ...and so the best way to start a fire if you have no matches or lighter is to use flint and steel. that right friends?**

 **OP: I still prefer using a battery and steel wool myself.**

 **Janna: I prefer using the sun and a magnifying glass if I have to.**

 **SN: I prefer the bow and stick meth-**

 **Everyone else: That is a sub-par method and should only be used as a last resort!**

 **SN:... ok then.**

 **WH: Enjoy the episode folks.**

 _Day 2: The Void_

'Lost and adrift in the void, only nothingness surrounding me.' Mavis drifted through the junk patch in outer space wearing only some tattered loose clothing. 'Coming from nowhere and going nowhere surrounded by an endlessly expanding universe. In such a land a certain hunger emerges; a hunger of the mind, the spirit, and the body.' A grumbling sound came from her stomach with Mavis sighing in defeat. 'Doomed to continue to drift and perhaps skeletonize in essentially a garbage patch…' She was struck in the head by a moving object causing her to look up in irritation. Up ahead appeared to be a large patch of junk that consisted of mostly egg shells of some sort. Smiling in a detached manner she drifted amongst the egg shells poking and prodding at them imagining what sort of birds they were eggs for. Tentatively she picked a shell and tried chewing it for some sort of sustenance and felt as if she got nothing worth her while. Shrugging she continued to float seeing white eggs, brown eggs, red eggs, black eggs, round eggs, oval eggs, plain eggs, swirled eggs, green eggs, blue eg- 'Wait.' She looked more closely at one egg in particular seeing it move through the area in an odd manner. As she watched she realized something, that wasn't an egg shell it was a completely intact egg with everything still inside of it.

"Egg, food, COME HERE!" Mavis began swimming through the void towards the egg as best she could. "Come on, get in my belly." Her stomach growled again pushing her to move faster. "So close, come on get over here." She reached out of the egg coming closer by the second until the sound of a portal cutting open got her attention. She looked over to see much of the garbage was being sucked up through the portal, including the egg and her. "Nonononono I'm so clos… Ahhhhhh!" She didn't have time to complain however as she was sucked up into the portal and thrown about like all the other junk that was sucked through.

The portal opened up to a grey sky thick with clouds as a stream of junk left the portal pulling Mavis and the egg along with it. Screaming in shock Mavis collided with a piece of egg shell that was about as big as she was and held onto it as she flew through a dark and cold forest landing in the mud. The egg shell skipped and instead of sinking into the ground acted like a sled skimming along to surface of it building up speed. Holding on it for dear life Mavis was tossed about on it until the egg shell hit a slanted rock in the ground and skipped again flying through the air with her hanging onto it desperately. The shell fell landing on a small pond skipping a total of three times before the shell finally shattered dumping her into the water. After sinking for a second she came to the surface gasping for breath and swam to shore crawling up on the muddy bank where she laid on the ground. She hadn't done much activity but due to her weakened state before she was flung into space and no food or water she was exhausted.

She sat up somewhat painfully looking back at the water for a second before she began drinking it desperately. She knew it was risky guzzling down water like this, especially when it was not treated for toxins, but it was do that or die at the moment. After a few minutes she finally finished gasping for more air and sat up to take a look at her surroundings. She appeared to be in a small marsh in the middle of the forest which had trees that appeared ancient, perhaps centuries old, even if not a single one was more than 50ft tall. 'Must be very poor land if the ancient trees aren't that big. I'm in for hell.' Mavis thought to herself hearing a peeping sound come from nearby and turned looking up to see a birds nest. Up in one of the trees a gigantic eagle, as big as she was, was feeding its babies with the three of them struggling among each other for food. Desperate she moved with a slight limp under the tree and waited for anything to fall on her that might be substantial. She was rewarded with a couple bugs dropping down on her which she gobbled up but felt not much relief from the hunger due to them being only bugs. As she stood back up one of the three eagle chicks fell from the tree next to her which made her perk up eagerly.

"Ah, the main course." She smiled in a demented fashion as she picked up the baby eagle and was about to eat it alive until the mother swooped down and scooped them both up. "Gahhhh… put me done you oversized pheasant." Mavis tried struggling but as the bird gained height she realized the situation she was in and gripped onto the eagle. "Nevermind, don't drop me you noble beast!" The eagle looked down on her with a blank expression and took the chick from Mavis before shaking her off. "AHHHHH, NOT AGAIN!" Mavis fell through the air this time landing in a tree. However as she fell the force was enough to break the branches she fell on so she fell through the tree breaking branches and thwacking herself on everything that didn't break. "Ohhhh, my aching… *thwack*" As she landed several of the branches she had broken off landed on her. "My scapula." She stood up shakily looking around desperate to find any source of sustenance or shelter at this point.

As she looked around she spotted a small rocky area with what appeared to be silk done up in a spider web fashion on it. Shaking her head to try and clear it of any fogginess she stumbled towards it thinking she could find shelter there at least even if it meant having to deal with a giant spider. As she approached it she drew her sword only to find it had been badly damaged at some point and now was only a haft with six inches of blade broken off into a jagged end. Cursing silently she moved forward and looked up to the web to see several big bugs trapped in it not struggling too much. As she got close one of the bugs actually called out to her in a language she could understand.

"Please, you gotta help me." As she wrapped her mind around the fact a bug just talked to her another one spoke up.

"No point in her trying to help us man, we're stuck good." She shook her head thinking she had a concussion at this point as a giant spider descended on the web.

As she watched the spider grabbed onto one of the bugs and began eating it in front of her eyes in a horrifying display. As bits of bug fell around her one actually fell in her mouth tasting pretty damn good at the moment prompting her to begin scooping up bits of bug to stave off hunger. She looked up disappointed when the splattering stopped to see the spider had finished eating and had crawled off to most likely sleep off its meal. Mavis kept quiet for the moment waiting to be sure it was actually asleep before stepping forward to the web and began cutting it with her sword as best she could to lower one section of the web to her. As it lowered she spotted one of the remaining bugs who had gotten to within reaching distance whom she cut free of the web. The bug looked up at her gratefully speaking up quietly.

"Thank you, now could you just cut this cocoon arou… what are you doing?!" Mavis looked at the bug licking her lips before biting its head off.

For a minute she moaned at how good it was to finally get some food in her and ate the insides of the bug as best she could. Before she finished however she heard scrabbling and an angry screeching coming from above indicating the spider had come out of its crawling space. She immediately took off running while still eating the bug and not bothering to look as the spider chased after her. After a few minutes however she tripped dropping the bug and looked around for it for a second before the spider caught up to her. It sprayed some web on her to try and pin her down and reached forward as if trying to eat her. It would have actually gotten her, however she was easily twice the size of the spider and the webbing had attached her to muddy ground which she ripped up easily. Growling in desperation she swung her sword remnant at the spider and backed away ready for its next move. As the two sized each other up the spider seemed to chuckle at it in pity before it moved up lightning quick and smacked her to the side with no effort. It then grabbed the chunk of bug she had not finished before running off back to its lair.

"Hey, I'm not done with that!" Mavis tried to follow but the adrenaline had worn out and she was still malnourished and exhausted. "Come… back… here…" She fell to her knees gasping before slamming her fist on the ground and started crying. "I fought for some scraps of bug and a damn spider beat me. *sob* What's become of me." She stayed like that for an unknown length of time before a snap of branches prompted her to stand up in a defensive posture.

She relaxed however when she saw no threat and perked up when she saw the egg she had been chasing in the void. Giggling in a crazed manner she rushed over and tried knocking the egg open to get food from it. However the egg seemed to be made of something beyond durable as she couldn't even seemed to scratch or dent it against anything; even the sword made out of spring steel. Growling in frustration she picked up the egg and hurled it away hearing it bounce and snap as it rattled to a stop somewhere. Mavis realized the egg had fallen for quite some distance before stopping, a lot further then it should have gone given how she threw it. She moved in cautiously to investigate and pushed into a patch of brambles trying to keep herself from being cut up too much. After moving through a little ways, getting scrapes and scratches all over, she snagged on a couple of branches and tripped ripping some of her already ragged clothes off and falling into a hole. She bounced on some rocks eventually coming to a stop smacking her head on a rock and knew that if she didn't have a concussion before she had one now.

Blinking her eyes open she took in the surrounding area to see she was in some sort of hidden grotto concealed by dense brambles along its ridge. She was about 20 feet down from the surrounding area at the bottom of a moss lined over hung grotto that had multiple small shrubs growing around a still and clear pool of water that steamed slightly. She also saw the egg sitting in one corner of the grotto unmarked by its fall sitting in what appeared to be a bed of moss that looked like a nest. 'Well how about that?' Mavis thought to herself as she crawled over to the moss nest too exhausted to look for any more food and curled up holding the egg close to her reflexively. The grotto felt pretty warm compared to the area above and the egg felt warm to the touch now which lulled her into the deep and restful slumber she needed after all that had gone wrong for her over the course of one week.

* * *

Mavis blinked her eyes open and reached out to rub the crust out that had formed rather thickly around them as she sat up. She felt refreshed in a sense but still felt disoriented and dizzy, hurt, hungry, and thirsty again. She tried to stand up but found she was too dizzy to stand up so instead crawled to the edge of the pool to drink deeply of the oddly sweet and rather warm water; almost like bathtub warm. As she finished she looked at her reflection in the water seeing a bony, dirty, and still tired looking woman stare back at her. Sighing in a tired manner Mavis looked around the grotto to see if there was anything she could eat in there aside from the unbreakable egg. She was rewarded with the fact that most of the bushes in here were berry bushes and despite the temperature outside indicating late fall it seemed to be summer here as the bushes were full of berries. She grabbed at everything she could and ate it careful to not waste anything as she ate as much as she could comfortably fit inside of her. After she had only gotten halfway through the berries she finally had eaten enough to feel full and thanked whatever god was looking out for her for finally getting a streak of good luck.

Gasping in content she felt tired once again but decided a bath would be in order and stripped off what clothing was left before sliding into the pool. She gasped at the how warm the pool felt against her skin and how good it was to relax for a change scrubbing off the dirt and grim that covered her. After doing this for a little while she finally leaned back in the pool letting her pores open up and let the steam clear up her sinuses which were in poor shape all things considered. She sighed in content now feeling the stress that had plagued her since she began taking in the drugs that… whatever had possessed Mildrew had given her. After resting for a while she got out of the water reluctantly and popped her neck, joints, and spine back into place feeling even more relief from that before crawling into the nest again not bothering to get back into her grimy cloths. She held the egg close to her and actually looked at it for the first time to figure out what kind of egg it was. It was slightly larger than a football and a smoky purple color with what looked to be reptilian scales covering it all over for some reason. As she looked at it something seemed to knock in the inside of it with a muffled chirp coming from within. 'Huh, looks like the egg of a…' Mavis yawned before she could finish her thought and curled up to sleep with the egg putting out even more heat now.

* * *

Mavis blinked awake at another restful night of sleep and rubbed her eyes free of sleep with her head feeling clear for the first time in a while. 'Huh, maybe the blows to my head weren't that bad.' Mavis sat up stretching and found something clinging onto her breasts. Freezing in shock she looked down to see that something was in fact clinging onto her quite tightly. Shrieking silently she knocked the thing off which chirped indignantly as she took up a fighting stance and tried to figure out what it was. It seemed to be house cat size roughly and looked reptilian in origin with some feathers around its face and the end of its tail. As it righted itself she saw it was also a smoky purple color, had two legs bearing four toes in front and one pointing backwards like bird feet, had four feathered wings with several fingers on them like an Archaeopteryx, several long feathers sticking up in display on the back of its head, and a cat like face with oddly adorable yellow eyes.

"What the hell are you?" Mavis spoke in shock with the creature chirping in response letting the feathers fall flat and crawled up to Mavis. "Hey what are you doing?" She tried backing away but the creature seemed to think it was a game and leapt after her. "Do I look like I want to play with you?" She tried running around the grotto but it kept pace with her easily chirping up a storm. After doing this for a little while Mavis had to stop and catch her breath with the thing latching onto her and climbing up to her still naked breasts and latching on cuddling up to her. "Hey, do I look like your mommy?!" She reached down to pluck it off and stopped as her own words hit her. "Am I its mommy?" She looked back to the nest of moss and found that the egg had in fact hatched overnight and this was what was inside of it. "Well shit, this is the last thing I need given everything." She looked down at it and sighed in acceptance. "Well, let's see how long it takes before you wander off because I'm not feeding you." It chirped not understanding a word she said as Mavis got to work for the day.

First thing first she drank from the pool which had completely cleared up from her bath last night despite the grim she had let off. Then she got to work stripping the little hollow of any food she could find, mostly nuts, berries, and plant tubers. After she had finished eating, feeling comfortably full, she got to work fixing up her clothes as they were only going to be an impediment to her in this environment in their current state. She broke off one of ragged bits of metal from her sword, VERY CAREFULLY, and collected the spider silk that had stuck to her cloths still to help her stich up her clothing as best as possible. She couldn't fix her clothing completely so instead she broke down her clothing to give her and equivalent of a pair of shorts, a wrap to keep her head warm, and a top piece that looked surprisingly like a swimsuit of sorts. 'Huh, all things considered if I wasn't so bony I might actually look good in this.' Mavis thought to herself as she washed her newly made clothes to get what grim off of them she could.

As she went to put her cloths back on the baby refused to budge from her chest prompting her to pull it off again and set it down. The second she did so though it just scampered right back onto her breasts holding onto her even more tightly. Grunting in annoyance Mavis put on what cloths she could before trying to get her top on around the thing clinging to her. It chirped in annoyance and an ad hoc wrestling match insured between Mavis and the thing that addressed her as its mother. After rolling around the grotto for a bit they finally stopped with Mavis exhausted and the thing still holding onto her. As she panted she yelped when the thing began to try and suckle on her which prompted her to speak to it in annoyance.

"What do you think you're doing!? You're not going to get anything out…" As she spoke it gave a mighty suck and she felt something come out which it swallowed. "… of that?" She felt a cold feeling of panic flow through her as she had what felt like an anxiety attack. "What is happening to me!? I'm not some baby momma!" She moved over to the moss nest with frightened thoughts buzzing through her head trying desperately to make sense of all this. Meanwhile the creature suckled from her gleefully giving off content chirps. "This isn't right; what could possibly have…" She paused and turned back to the egg shell pieces and picked one up to observe it. "Wait… could it be?" She looked down at the creature and realized this creature actually did look like something she had heard of before. "Are you… a True Dragon?!" The thing on her chest finally detached itself from her and gave a soft burp in response. "Impossible, your kind has been extinct for centuries." It then curled up on her lap and promptly fell asleep snoring softly.

Thoughts swirled around her head as she finally was able to put her top on and contemplate what had just happened. In space she had found the egg of a creature that had apparently been extinct for centuries and now that she had brought it back it had hatched and now thought of her as its mother. 'But how does that explain… this?' She wiped off a little stray milk on her breast and looked at it in disbelieving shock. There was no way she could be lactating unless if it was a magical influence at this point which… oddly enough did make more sense as she thought of it. Some dragons were said to contain latent magic about them that subtly influenced the world around them as was needed and since it viewed her as its mother… 'Wait, do dragons primarily drink milk when young? Wait why am I even asking these questions; I can't take care of a baby now.' She thought in exasperation looking down at the cute creature curled up in her lap thinking what to do, when an awful idea hit her.

"You… could be dinner." She licked her lips at this knowing that the grotto would not sustain her forever and she needed meat eventually. "You are awfully cute but unfortunately you are made of meat." She picked up her remnant of a sword and went to cut its throat… but stopped as it opened its innocent eyes and looked up at her.

She froze waiting for it to go asleep as it chittered at her slightly before smelling the blade she held with wide eyed innocence. It then turned over and curled up again falling asleep soundly as Mavis found she couldn't move just staring at it. 'Come on Mavis you need food and you can't take care of that thing, just end it quickly.' She couldn't however and just stared at it for an unknown length of time before setting the blade to the side and rubbing the dragons back with it chittering in its sleep. It just looked so adorable, helpless, and innocent curled up next to her like a baby should look except better. She then picked it up, careful not to wake it, and kissed its head softly before lying down to sleep while holding it close to her so they could absorb each other's warmth as she spoke to herself.

"Mavis, if you die taking care of this dragon it's your fault for not killing and eating it when you had the chance."


	65. Mavis in the Wild Pt 2

**Double or nothing, double or nothing, two chapters for the price of one. ;)**

 _Day 25: The Wild_

Mavis woke up to the feeling of something batting at her which she promptly grabbed its wing like paw and pushed it aside glaring up at the dragon that was trying to wake her up. It chittered at her in a pleading manner and gestured towards her breasts slinking back a few steps. Mavis's gaze softened as she got up and stretched looking down at her 'baby' in a sense. He had grown a lot in the past three weeks nearly tripling in size which kind of intimidated Mavis but also made her chuckle strangely enough. Despite it treating her as its mommy it acted a lot like a close pet which convinced Mavis that she didn't need to really be afraid of it for now. She smiled softly at it and undid her top exposing her breasts to him speaking sweetly.

"Ok Ancalagon if you are so insistent then here's your breakfast." The Dragon chirped eagerly and latched on with Mavis giggling at his eagerness stroking the feathers on his head.

She did find the fact that she could produce milk for this guy a little weird and disconcerting but nothing else had happened to her and she couldn't do anything about it so she just went with it. And as a bonus, a petty little thing that made her feel better, the lactating was doing wonders for her bust size increasing it to something substantial. As she looked around the grotto she had to admit things had not been so bad for her; she had warm clean water, an almost roof over her head, was out of the wind and cold, and had a soft warm bed. The dragon also served as a nice hug pillow that heated her up every single night which did help given how cold it was even in the grotto and her lack of clothing. As it finished its suckling and backed off burping Mavis felt a grumble in her own stomach again which made Ancalagon whine in sympathy. This was another thing Mavis liked about him, he could be rather needy for attention and food but he was always genuinely grateful to her and wanted to make her happy as a result. She sighed at him and put on a 'vine cloak' she had weaved together to keep the wind off of her in addition to her top and stood up speaking to him.

"Alright boy, we need to find food for myself so keep quite." He nodded to Mavis and followed her as she climbed out of the grotto shivering at the cold wind.

She had tried going off to look for food in the past leaving him behind but every single time he had followed her so she just taught him how to be silent; an eerily easy task as he seemed to understand her words somewhat. As she expected once the food in the grotto ran out there wasn't much outside to sustain her so she had to keep looking far and wide. As she moved she saw a few wisps of snow in the air which made her groan at how hard it would be to find food now. As she moved a snap of sticks to the side made her duck and cover with Ancalagon doing the same next to her. As they looked through some dried grass they saw the giant spider Mavis had a conflict with earlier step through the woods. They watched it stop for a second looking around as its stomach growled and, judging everything was fine, it moved out in a set direction. 'Wait, it must be looking for food; and it knows where to find it given its movement.' Mavis thought to herself smiling and began following the spider with the dragon following behind her a little nervously glancing at the spider. As they followed it the spider stepped out of the woods into an area with some snow packs in it and lowered its body close to the ground to act like a sled as its legs propelled it along. Mavis nodded at that and got on all fours crawling along the snow as well with Ancalagon hesitating at the edge for a second before doing something similar. He normally walked on two wings and two feet with his second pair of wings folded up but he extended the second pair to get better purchase in the show.

After following the spider through the open field they came to a small chasm that had steam pouring out of it just like Mavis's grotto. The spider did not hesitate and walked out on a log spanning the chasm attaching a line of thread to it before letting itself down. Mavis crawled out onto the log with Ancalagon following her like a loyal dog looking down into the mist in worry. Mavis turned towards him and rubbed his head reassuringly speaking softly.

"Don't you worry about a thing; mommy is just going to see what food she can find down there." Ancalagon chittered worriedly as Mavis turned back to the log itself.

The spider had clearly come here a lot given how many lose threads were still here giving her an idea on how to get down. Cutting a few threads lose she attached them together and created something akin to a bungee line which she attached to herself. She dropped down from the log holding onto the line in case if it was too long and slid down silently into the mist. She finally got to the bottom reaching ice which she tested tentatively before setting foot on it and looking around to find the spider. She found it after a few quick sweeps and saw it cut open a circle in the ice using its legs… somehow, and cast some webbing in to pull out some fish. 'Hmmm, clever idea for essentially a gigantic bug.' Mavis noted it in respect as she pulled out her stump of a sword to cut a hole in the ice herself. As she did that and pushed it to the side so she could reach down into the water she slipped on the ice with her hair falling in the water. As she groaned in annoyance she felt a tugging on her hair that gave her immediate hope which was rewarded with a fish when she pulled it out.

"Ye-" He moment of triumph was shattered however when she was body slammed to the side by the spider. "Ok, that was a bitch move!" Mavis got up facing him in anger as the spider seemed to laugh at her as it added her small fish to its already impressive collection.

Growling in anger she leapt at the spider with her stumpy blade and actually managed to cut off one of its legs. Shrieking in pain and anger the spider went to slap her aside but she dodged its attack and went to stab its underbelly. What she had forgotten was that spiders had 8 legs total and only two were needed to keep this one standing and it had lost only one. It grabbed her with four other legs holding her up so it could cover her with web pining her down and went to bite her. As it made contact however it backed up spitting to the side and growling at her in annoyance as it went to just stab her with its leg to finish off the annoyance that had taken its leg. As it did so a shriek came from above as Ancalagon had leapt from the log above landing on the spider and biting on its leg hard enough to make the exo-skeleton crack. Shrieking in pain and frustration the spider bucked as best it could to get the dragon off with the dragon holding on for a wild ride. Mavis struggled as best she could but the webbing was firmly attached to a surface now keeping her from breaking free quickly leaving helpless as the spider knocked the dragon off of its back. Turning on the dragon it encases the dragon in a web cocoon and pulled it along with its trove of fish back to its lair with Mavis completely forgotten. As Ancalagon shrieked in fear Mavis's eyes narrowed as she spoke quietly.

"You just crossed the line mister long leg."

* * *

Back at the spider's lair it set the pile of fish in one corner next to, oddly enough, an empty bag of Doritos chips as it moved over to its main web. The spider didn't have much food stored in its lair or very much stuff stored there for that matter. Mostly it was a cold grey place draped with spider silk in multiple parts with the occasional skeleton of sorts dotting the area. Inside its silky cocoon Ancalagon chirped in fear trying to wiggle its way out as best it could as the spider took it up to its web. Setting it down on the web it cut open the cocoon just enough to let its head poke out so it could judge what exactly it had caught. As Ancalagon struggled vainly against its binds the spider gave it a taste test and found it to actually taste pretty good chittering at this. As it made to bite however a rock came hurdling through the air striking one of its eyes making it shriek in pain and look up at whoever would dare attack it. Spotting Mavis it seemed to make an 'of course' grunt as Mavis held out a spear with her sword remnant acting at the blade.

"Well come and get me, cause you're not eating my baby until I am dead bitch!" The spider chittered before leaping to the ground and charging at Mavis headlong.

Mavis smiled and ducked rolling out of the way of its charge slashing at its legs again. She only cut off half of one of the legs but it was enough to throw the spider off its game allowing her to back off a few steps. The spider approached her more cautiously this time and tried stabbing at her with its remaining legs. Mavis ducked and dodged as best she could but she sustained a few cuts across her as it backed her into a corner. Going all in Mavis used the spear as a pole vault to leap over the spider but only managed to fall on its back. This would have been the end for Mavis but she was just so much bigger then the spider she knocked the wind out of it stunning it long enough for her to scramble free and climbed up the wall to its web. Now really pissed the spider limped after Mavis as she got onto the web to try and free Ancalagon. Chirping in hope Ancalagon struggled more fiercely against his bindings as Mavis reached him. She grabbed the silk pulling it apart ever so slightly before the spider got to her again trying to grab her. This time however she slipped through the spiders grasp in a move that stunned the spider with how well she pulled it off. When it finally came to its senses it saw Mavis was crawling on the underside of the web. Shrieking in anger at being hurt and humiliated the spider stabbed at her with its legs at first cutting through the web as she dodged its blows. After a few of those blows the spider seemed to realize what was going on and aimed its strikes more carefully to avoid cutting the web it was standing on.

While this was going on Ancalagon struggled enough to get his body free and leapt out of his cocoon to see his mommy getting tired fighting the spider. He wanted to leap in and help out but as he went to a spark in his head told him no, that there was a better way to do this. He looked around in worry wondering what he could do and that he needed to do it fast in order to help mommy. 'Call upon your inner fire.' He blinked in confusion at the deep masculine voice speaking clearly in his head and at what it meant looking back at the fight. Mommy was holding on desperately to the web now as the spider moved deliberately and cautiously over her so as to not make a mistake. He shook his head trying to figure out what to do and snapped his jaw in annoyance producing a sudden burst of light sparks. Stunned in confusion he tried it again getting a similar result except this time one of the light sparks began smoldering on the web. He wasn't very old but a strange instinct took him over as he made the spark again and tried blowing them out of his mouth.

Mavis and the spider both blinked in confusion at a sudden tiny roar and a whoosh of air came over from Ancalagon's direction prompting them to look in his direction. A wave of fire had emerged quickly catching on the rather flammable spider silk moving towards them at full speed. Mavis barely had enough time to swing herself to cling onto the cave walls as the fire overtook their position with the spider caught fully in the spreading fire. Shrieking in pain the spider staggered on its weakened web until it completely burned away and the spider fell to the ground dead. Mavis blinked in shock at what had just happened as Ancalagon stumbled to the floor in a heap looking up at Mavis chirping triumphantly and beating his wings. Mavis smiled and slid down the wall stepping past the burnt spider to Ancalagon why leapt into her arms cheerily with the two hugging tightly. Mavis actually found she had tears in her eyes as she held her dragon close to her with him still chirping in triumph as he grabbed onto her. The two finally broke apart with Mavis turning back to the burning spider which was at this point well done with the flames burning out. She looked around the spider's lair and saw there wasn't much to offer aside from a few skeletons, the pile of fish, an empty bag of chips, and the spider itself. She smiled at this and looked down at Ancalagon who was looking at her expectantly as she thought of something.

"You can't live on my milk alone, how about I give you a taste for permanent food?"

* * *

 _Day unknown: The Wild_

Mavis stepped out of her little grotto with a net of spider silk and several bone harpoons in hand breathing in the cold air deeply. She now wore the spider's carapace over her body as clothing and a form of limited armor as she moved out to the fishing area with Ancalagon in tow. He was a bit bigger now reaching the size of a small wolf as he trotted alongside Mavis towards the fishing hole sniffing the air cautiously. The two reached the area with Mavis grabbing onto a well-established line and slid down slowly with Ancalagon fluttering down alongside her. He wasn't good for flying yet but he could glide and flutter down from a great height without hurting himself. Mavis cut open a hole in the ice lowering the net into it and tying it around Ancalagon's shoulders. She held up her hand telling him to wait before bringing it down with the two of them hauling up a net full of fish. Smiling Mavis wrapped the net up to make sure no fish would fall out only to be interrupted by Ancalagon nuzzling her chest.

"*sigh* No, wait until we get back and I get some food. If you had wanted it you should have eaten before we left." He hung his head sadly as a shadow passed over them. They looked up to see an eagle passing by overhead prompting Mavis to smile. "How about a change in menu?" The eagle flew overhead to its next lighting down gracefully and pecked at the mouse in its talons. "Hey you." The eagle looked up in confusion to see Mavis was sitting on a branch next to him. "I have someone I would like you to meet." She pointed behind the eagle who looked to see Ancalagon who reared back and blew a small stream of lilac flame into the eagle's face.

* * *

"Yes the wild is an indifferent and unforgiving mistress, favoring the adaptable, strong, and cruel." Mavis spoke softly while looking over a collection of skulls she had gotten from the spider's lair now on display in the grotto. "If one holds back or shows mercy at the wrong time it equals death." She looked over to the fire seeing what was left of the eagle they had eaten that day being kept warm. "But going it alone is also foolish and to do so is risky at best." She looked up from the warm pool she was relaxing in as Ancalagon chirped at her expectantly. "So one must learn whom to trust and rely upon in this unforgiving world." She beckoned him into the pool which he crawled in eagerly and started suckling her with Mavis holding his head smiling at him. "Because who knows, you might find something that also makes life better as well as easier." She leaned back sighing in content at how well her life was going now.

"Hey Mavis." Mavis and Ancalagon looked up in shock to see Star Butterfly was standing not five feet in front of them.

"Oh… hi." They stared at each other for a solid minute before Star turned around and walked away out of the grotto. Ancalagon looked back up at Mavis cooing in concern at her sudden tense up. "Don't go for it Mavis, don't go for it." She leaned back again trying to get Star out of her head.

 **SN: 30 seconds later.**

"COME BACK HERE MUDBLOOD BITCH!" Mavis ran across the cold forest weapons in hand as Star remained just out of reach of her. "Grrr, get her Anca!" She pointed towards Star prompting Ancalagon to flap his wings while running to pick up speed and try to catch Star.

 **SN: One intense chase scene later.**

Mavis and Ancalagon finally collapsed in a clearing in the woods that was completely bare of snow feeling like they had come down from a high elevation. 'Wow, how far did I chase that girl?' Mavis thought to herself in exasperation as she looked around the clearing. It was rather misty out and seemed like dawn was just about to break given the color in the sky. She looked over at Ancalagon who was panting slumped over on the ground looking up at his mother like he had failed her. Mavis walked over and petted him cooing softly to him.

"It's ok baby, it was my fault we started chasing her in the first place. Come on, let's just get back home…" She was interrupted by a sudden glow of green from ahead. "Wait…" She stepped forward towards the light seeing it come from a mound of dirt that seemed haphazardly thrown onto it. In fact the whole clearing looked like it had been dug up by a gaggle of digging creatures. "What is… this?" She dug through the dirt to reveal what looked like half a star was giving off the green glow and appeared to be fused into the palm of a skeletal arm. She looked over at Ancalagon who chittered worriedly as she picked it up to get a better look at it.

" **So you have finally found us my child.** " Mavis shrieked at the sudden deep voice that sounded in her head and nearly dropped her wand.

' _Easy there your majesty, you have been in the woods for too long._ " Mavis blinked at the sly and high class British voice that suddenly spoke.

"Who… are you." The voices chuckled in synch and spoke at the same time.

" ** _We are Alucard, spirits of the wand._** " Mavis blinked in shock speaking up again.

"Wait, so this is the Butterfly wand?"

" **Indeed it is my chid.** "

 _"When Star destroyed the wand she showed us she was unfit to be queen."_

 **"Moon taking a Monster for her love was already pushing it but a Half-breed who destroys the wand for a peasant boy from another dimension is going too far."**

 _"So we split from the other spirits who were still intent on 'supporting' the true queen of Mewni."_

 **"And now you have finally found us my child."**

 _"And under your leadership your majesty we can begin to retake and rebuild the kingdom Moon has ruined."_

"But… I'm not sure if I want to." Mavis looked over at Ancalagon who was looking at her oddly. "I have a new life out in the wild, I don't want to go back and be thrown headlong into this messy game again." At this the voices clucked in a disappointed way.

 **"My child, you cannot just turn your back on your kingdom when it needs you most."** Mavis shook her head speaking.

"I am hunted like a common criminal by own people who support the mud-blood over me." After what sounded like a muffled groan one of them spoke.

 _"Your majesty, there are many people who still support you. And can you honestly let this child assume the throne with Moon's guidance."_ The wand glowed brightly showing her an image.

* * *

 _"... Star Butterfly. And that's the story of my parents, at least what they told me." Star smiled at Ferguson, Alfonso, Kelly, Janna, StarFan13, Princess Ponyhead, Tempest, Alexis, and Rico._

 _"Now that is one heck of a story." Janna spoke smiling up at Star as she sat in Marco's lap under his hoodie._

 _"Wow, your parents really went through all that?" Marco asked sounding impressed._

 _"Well duh, this is history and my parents couldn't make it up even if they wanted to." Star flashed a toothy grin at everyone._

 _"Well I know she is tellin the truth gurl, my dad will back it up." Princess Ponyhead spoke flamboyantly._

 _Everyone began either saying how cool the story was or said their parents could back them up as well until Angie called up from down below._

 _"Star, there are 2 someone's here to see you for a surprise visit. Please come down." Angie yelled up putting a smile on Stars face._

 _"Come on Marco, let's go." Star lifted Marco up while still in his hoodie and began carrying him._

 _"Star, put me down." Marco said in a deadpan voice as people giggled at him._

 _"But you're so warm Marco." Star whined giving Marco puppy dog eyes making everyone burst out laughing._

 _"*Sigh* ok let's go."_

 _Star made it downstairs detaching Marco from her near the end and the two were met by Moon and Toffee standing arm in arm in Marco's living room with a smiling Angie and Raphael standing nearby._

 _"Mom, Dad, nice to see you again." Star ran over and gave the two a hug._

* * *

 _"… do you honestly believe these monsters who have caused a decay of the kingdom of Mewni really deserve a happy ending?!"_ Mavis growled gritting her teeth as familiar anger boiled deep inside of her.

"No, I don't."

 **"Then you should put them down and take the crown and the rest of the wand so you might retake the kingdom my child."** Mavis let the anger flow through her before speaking.

"But how am I supposed to get back? I'm trapped in another dimension completely with no scissors." The two voices chuckled at her before speaking up at once.

 ** _"You never left Mewni for long."_** The sun finally came up enough for light to spill out over the land revealing familiar looking terrain and, in the faint distance, the outline of Castle Butterfly.

"I'm, on Mewni?" Mavis spoke softly looking out towards the horizon as Ancalagon shivered slightly sensing a fell wind was blowing.

 _Day 1: Mewni._

 **Mavis is far from being out of the game and there is more to this 'Alucard' than meets the eye. Perhaps something a bit more light hearteded for a change, complete comedy for once... well almost complete comedy. Next up time to see if Marco is capable of surviving in Star's world with 'The UnWild Hunt.'**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **You are still obsessing over the fact that Mavis breast fed a dragon aren't you. :/**


	66. Adorkable Dance Pt 1

**OP: Where is that Hippie, he should have been here 1 week ago. *Sees a door open out of thin air***

 **SN: There you are. We need to gt this hunt started. *sees that the hippie is wearing formal dancing clothes.* Um, you're hunting in that?**

 **WH: Oh no, change of plans. In a now deleted author's note I asked for some help and had a change in plans. Tonight I'm going to a dance and tomorrow we hunt. See you later. *walks off leaving the trio staring after me in confusion***

 **Janna: Well, guess I need to get into position for whatever he has in store for me.**

 **SN: Indeed. Enjoy the episode folks despite the change in plans.**

"So wait, Voodoo is not a magic practice?" JanJak chuckled at Ferguson's question while Janna spoke up.

"No, that's actually Hoodoo. Voodoo in its purest sense is actually a religion very similar to African and American Shamanism with Christian influences." Ferguson nodded dumbly at Janna's words.

They were currently in Janna's basement which also served as her room by her own request to her parents. There were shelves around the room containing various books on subjects such as Literature, History, Fantasy, Role-playing guide books, Occult, Religion, Wiccan spell books, Survival guides, Criminal behavior, and even several on Erotica which still made Ferguson a bit uneasy given their new relationship. Some of the shelves also held various ingredients in jars and vials marked appropriately with scientific calculations of amounts. Along one shelf there were strings of herbal ingredients drying or waiting to be ground up for storage and usage next to scented candles Janna sometimes used for convenience. In one corner next to her bed was a tarantula, centipede, Praying mantis, and scorpion in separate tanks who were watching them with surprising interest considering they were only bugs. Decorations were not that commonplace although a throw rug with a pentagram was in the center of the room, several skull candle holders were scattered about, a coffin was in one corner also doubling as where JanJak slept, and an old Iron cauldron hanging on a tripod stand was normally right next to it but was now in the center of the room. 'Basically, Janna's style.' Ferguson thought to himself as JanJak spoke up in his gravelly Jamaican accent.

"Now we be doin a simple gatherin spell to collect magic into physical form to be stored for later usage. Now you two remember why we collect da magic in da first place?" The duo nodded and spoke up at the same time.

"Some spells require more magic then can be drawn upon in this world where it runs thin. So you need to gather it for when you need to use especially powerful spells." They looked at each other with Ferguson blushing slightly as Janna smirked before speaking.

"Getting in synch are we lover boy?" She blew some air into his ear making him rub it chuckling at the ad-hoc flirting while JanJak spoke up again.

"Save de lovin for later, I be needin your help for dis one." The nodded as JanJak through some powder into the cauldron making an eerie bluish black fire spring forth in it and began speaking in Jamaican Patois. " _Come to me mighty winds, Waves of sea and sky, Let them flow around and towards us, Bring us the magic that lives._ " Janna and Ferguson got into positions like a monk meditating and spoke in shaky Jamaican Patois.

" _Flow like the free essence you are, Through our realm of power, Grant us the gift of being in your presence, So we might fell your power._ " As they did so the cauldron's fire turned whiter with a strange swirling emerging in the air.

JanJak pulled out a stoppered gourd and held it over the fire seemingly collecting the fire into it when it turned white enough. Whenever JanJak hissed at the kids one of them would through a handful of powder into the cauldron making the fire spark up for a second. They did this for about three times but upon the fourth handful of powder the cauldron began to turn a sickly green color that spread fast. The duo looked up to JanJak questioningly but grew alarmed when his skeletal face turned panicked and he immediately stoppered the gourd.

"Well dat can't be gud!" As if to push his point home the fire collapsed into the cauldron and started bubbling like tar. "Get me da baking soda, we need to cancel dis out before…" To late the fluid turned into a bubble that burst sending out a pulse of energy that knocked them back and sent Janna's room into disarray. As they collected themselves from the sudden glitch Ferguson spoke up.

"What the hell was that?!" JanJak stood up speaking slowly.

"Somethin be wrong wit da winds of magic itself. Dis does not bod well for anyone in a world where magic be important. Thankfully since we are in a world were magic be not important nothin will happen because of dis, except for a pulse of energy goin around." Janna rubbed her chin thinking that there should be something affected by this still… *beep beep*. Ferguson looked at his watch and his eyes went wide standing up.

"Are we going to the dance tonight, cause if so I need to get moving now." Janna chuckled at Ferguson's words and took him slightly off guard with her reaction.

"Yes actually. Parents have been invited to join in and I want to go simply to finally see Star's parents; especially after that little glimpse we had of her dad over Marco's mirror. Don't expect to stay long if they aren't there though, I have better plans in mind." Ferguson nodded and hesitated about to ask something before Janna spoke up again. "And don't worry about Bon Bon's séance, that's coming up in several weeks' time." Ferguson gave her a thumbs up and ran up the stairs with Janna turning back to JanJak who was looking a might bit worried over the cauldron and felt a surprising pang of worry over what had just happened.

'Well, aside from bad implications with magic overall, what's the worst that could happen?'

* * *

Star flipped her wand with a self-satisfied smirk as Glossarick flew back into the book looking impressed at Star yet again. He had said for yet another session how well along Star was coming in terms of magic usage, well ahead of what she should be. Of course it somewhat annoyed her that he rarely set out actual classes, like once every fortnight, but that was a minor issue. She had found something she was actually good at and that was important to her life as a ruler of Mewni. Of course that thought went by the wayside as she turned to her closet and opened it up looking at her formal clothing. Normally she didn't pay much interest to that but today she was going to the end of year school dance which just so happened to be taking place on the last day of school. Normally she wasn't into these big gatherings but the thought of going with Marco and company just made her feel bubbly in a way she hadn't felt in… well ever.

She rummaged through them going past her normal grey and black dress that she normally wore and instead focused on an aquamarine dress with purple highlights. She pulled it out watching it sparkle in the light and giggling at the thought of tonight. She turned towards the mirror in her room and gazed at her hair and debated to herself which type of hairstyle would go best with it; should she even put it up or just let it flow back like an extra add on to her cloths. She put her wand up to her hair and poofed it making it take the form of a ponytail prompting her to shake her head. She poofed it again making it take the form of her family's traditional heart shape. She shook her head again and poofed it into two pigtails just before a strange whump of energy flowed past her taking her off guard. Looking around she blinked in confusion before shrugging and pointing the wand at her head again. Too late she saw the gem had taken on a greenish glow and as she poofed it an unrestrained wave of chaotic magic shot out with a flash of green goo knocking her to the ground. As she got up feeling surprisingly sore from the blast she took one look in the mirror… and screamed.

* * *

Marco hummed applying deodorant to himself in the bathroom as he prepared for the evening. Tonight he was being meticulous about his appearance as the parents of the kids had been invited to join in by Lancer to interact. Nacho batted at the towel around his waist with Marco pulling it up so Nacho wouldn't get a good grip on it and yank it off. After wrestling for a second Nacho relented and sat to the side looking a little bored as Marco pulled out a bottle of cologne and sprayed it in the air knowing Star loved this scent. As he went to walk into it however a strange wave of energy passed by making Nacho screech in alarm and run for Marco getting tangled up in his legs. Naturally Marco fell headfirst to the ground getting his butt stuck up in the cloud of cologne as he fell down. After laying there a few seconds he stood up and picked up Nacho with annoyance in his voice.

"Seriously Nacho, why do you do that stuff?" Nacho twitched looking around in a panic before turning back to Marco and putting on an apologetic look. "Just got your fur up in a frazzle again huh? Well that's o…" Terrified screaming came from Star's room prompting Marco to drop Nacho and ran full tilt to Star's only in a towel opening the door. "Star I heard screaming, is every-" He froze as he took in the sight of Star before him who was trying to use her wand on herself.

Star's image had changed in some not so subtle ways mostly around the facial area and her hair. Her hair looked a bit frazzled and was done into two side braids that hung limply on either side of her face a darker grey color than usual. Her face had a severe case of acne now with her teeth looking a bit out of shape and encased in a pair of hefty braces. Her eyes now looked watery and were a straight up shade of grey with very little in terms of green flickering within them. Star also had these strange discolored portions of skin that looked like genuine scales over parts of her face and exposed skin on other parts of her body. Star didn't seem to realize he was there for a minute as she tried using magic on her face and failing to do anything in the slightest. The minute she finally noticed Marco she began crying and fell to her knees dropping her wand.

"I messed up. I just wanted to see which hair style was right, not do this!" She pointed to herself with Marco coming in and rubbing her head speaking softly.

"Star it's ok."

"No its not! This is something I'm supposed to be really good at and I can't even get do a simple hair spell without making myself even uglier than usual." Marco winced at Star's self-bereavement and pulled her into a hug as he spoke.

"You were not ugly Star and you are not ugly now. In fact you look cute in a dorky fashion right now." Nacho stepped up beside them sniffing at Star cautiously as she replied pulling back to look at Marco's face.

"Wait, really. *sniff* You aren't just saying that to make me feel better?" Marco leaned in to softly kiss Star with him replying.

"I would never do…" His comforting was halted however when Nacho hissed at Star and leapt backwards with his hair on end and the snake tail going wild in fear. "What the fu…" Before Marco was finished Angie and Raphael came into the room with Raphael speaking.

"Star we heard scream… oh." They paused to fully assess the situation as Star gripped onto Marco again shivering slightly at Nacho's reaction. "What happened and for that matter what is going on here?!" Marco blinked in dull shock at Nacho's reaction and spoke softly.

"I need to call Star's parents."

* * *

Marco was sitting in a fine looking suit in the living room fidgeting slightly as he glanced over at Toffee who looked as calm and collected as he usually did at first glance. When Toffee glanced over at Marco though he could see worry in Toffee's eyes as he spoke.

"I would say you did the right thing by contacting us; if Moonpie is still up there dealing with whatever happened to Star this must be serious." Marco nodded dumbly as they went back to waiting. After a little while longer Moon finally came down the stairs with Marco standing up and speaking.

"Is Star going to be alright?" Moon looked at Marco in concern before sighing and replying.

"Star will be alright, the magic only got skin deep." Marco let out a sigh of relief as Moon continued. "However I can clearly detect corrupted magic causing this change in her appearance. How the bloody hell she got corrupted magic when doing something as simple as this I have no idea." Toffee raised an eyebrow and turned towards Marco speaking slowly.

"Do remember anything happening like this before or anything environmentally out of the ordinary before this happened?" Marco took a few breaths before answering.

"Well her… magic did come out weird when she felt threatened enough to have her ptsd act up. But I can't think of anyth…" He thought for a second and blinked in realization. "Right before this happened there was a whump of energy that scared Nacho. Maybe that messed with her wand." Toffee nodded thoughtfully as Moon sighed hanging her head before speaking.

"Well that's not going to help us much. And what's more we are not going to be relying on Glossarick this time; he claims this will just go away on its own in a few days and since it's not threatening Star it's not worth the bother of finding a way." Toffee spoke up at that.

"So he's just being a prick again." Marco blinked in shock at this as Toffee did not seem to be the type to curse at all.

"Yes, maybe." Moon spoke nodding her head. "The big thing here since Star is safe from any further influences is her confidence which has been done a serious blow. As for tonight's dance… she was really looking forward to it and frankly so was I. I wanted to see how many friends she had made and how far she has come since we sent her…" Moon sniffed at this with Toffee immediately standing up and going to comfort her. "Star has come so far and now she's hiding because she doesn't want anyone to see her as 'uglier than usual'. My baby still thinks she's an inadequate ugly beast despite multiple friends and a loving boyfriend." She grabbed onto Toffee crying for a second as Marco stood there awkwardly as he watched an adult cry in front of him. He knew this kind of stuff could happen but seeing it for the very first time really hit hard especially since it was Queen Moon, a sweet caring person who seemed like she was on top of everything. As Marco watched them a thought suddenly came into his mind that might not help undo Star's spell but perhaps make her… more comfortable.

"Um, Moon?" Moon and Toffee looked to him in confusion. "If you can't undo that spell is there a chance you could duplicate it?" The parents blinked in confusion at this with Moon responding.

"What good would it do to cast the same spell again Marco?" Marco's eyes by chance locked with Toffee's eyes with him seeing a determination in them that made Toffee actually blink in disbelief as he spoke.

"Are you seriously considering what I think you are Marco?" Marco nodded with Moon looking back and forth in confusion. "My boy… that won't guarantee Star will want to go." Marco spoke again.

"I know, I just want to make her feel less self-aware about herself." Moon finally seemed to grasp what was going on and turned to Marco in shock.

"You want me to cast that spell on you?!" Marco nodded with Toffee giving him a look of respect. "If I do so I might not be able to undo it and it could take up to a week for it to wear off, likely longer then what Star will have it for."

"I don't care. I went through an awkward stage before and I don't want Star to go through this alone." Toffee outright chuckled at this to everyone's surprise and spoke to no one.

"And they say white knights don't exist anymore. Moon, I do believe this lad isn't going to back down at this point." Moon looked at both of them for a moment before nodding and turning towards Marco.

"Alright, I'll do it for you. I'll even see if I can 'synch-up' your and Star's changes so that when one of you goes back to normal the other one will, but no promises there." Marco nodded as Moon waved a hand in Marco's direction and let out some magic towards him that he could feel change his appearance leaving him surprisingly sore.

* * *

Star sat on her balcony popping a zit that had felt painful and sighed in slight relief. She felt depressed over her lack of competence and her changed appearance. Yes her mom had said it was likely not her fault given the nature of the magic but she could have done SOMETHING differently; she did know how to do magic well right? As for her appearance she usually felt no shame for it anymore but this… this reminded her too much of her 'awkward years' where her body went through some drastic changes as her Mewman and Septarian biology's almost clashed with each other. This had been a rather depressing experience for her as it had come right after her breakup with Tom and dredged up some painful memories of being forever alone as she had gone from 'passable' to 'pretty bad' in her own eyes. And all this just before the end of year school dance which she didn't feel like going to now for… obvious reasons. She felt a tear escape one eye and trickle down her face as she heard her door open.

"Not now, I want to be alone."

"Star, you don't have to be alone and its not right for you to be alone." Star blinked at Marco's voice and turned around becoming even more shocked at what she saw.

Marco was still wearing his cloths for the evening dance but they now looked limp on a now much more scrawny frame in his upper body and had a bow-tie instead of a normal tie for some reason. His face now had a bad case of acne as well complemented by a pair of glasses on his face that seemed to actually be needed unlike his phd glasses. His hair also seemed to be an oily mess like he had not showered in days hanging limply above his face. Star stared at him in shock before speaking.

"Wha… happened to you?" Marco chuckled slightly and spoke up.

"I didn't want you to go through this alone despite the fact that these changes are only skin deep and temporary." Star raised an eyebrow in suspicion at him which he seemed ready for. "I didn't do this to convince you to go to the dance; I just wanted you to not go through this alone, ok." He waked over to Star grasping her hands in his. "You want to call tonight off fine; we can just eat nachos and watch a movie you haven't seen yet. If you want to just play computer games or read while I brush your hair fine. What do you want to do?" He looked at her with earnestness that made Star tear up for a second before grabbing onto him and bawling her eyes out as he just stood there and held her close.

"Wha… what did I do *sniff sob* to deserve you!?" Star cried for a little while longer as Marco responded softly.

"By being you." After a while Star finished crying and pulled back slightly. "So, can I get out of this monkey suit and make us some Nachos now."

"No." Marco blinked in confusion at this as Star smiled. "I still wanna go to the dance tonight as all my friends will be there." Marco smiled and spoke softly.

"As my lady wishes so shall her knight comply." Star chuckled at this and playfully punched his arm.

"Hey don't go overt on me. You are my knight and boyfriend but that's just excessive. Go wait downstairs; I'll be there in a minute." Marco smiled knowing this crisis had passed as he left the room.

* * *

"Well hijo ease up there, you are setting the bar pretty high here for the rest of us men." Angie chuckled at Raphael's joke with Toffee even chuckling and speaking.

"As impressed as I am with you he does have a point. Now I need to be worried about Moon's gaze straying to a younger model." He jabbed verbally at his wife who rolled her eyes as she responded.

"Oh so quick to assume as much. Besides, he wouldn't want an old lady like me; even if it were allowed by the earth laws on 'consent'." Marco chuckled as the adults joked a little bit as they waited for Star to come down.

He personally was still looking forward to tonight despite his awkward appearance since he had heard a rumor that he and Star were going to be crowned 'most popular couple' by the school for tonight. 'Well won't this make for an interesting night when people see a pair of stereotypical dorks are their favorite couple.' He thought in amusement. As he finished that thought the parents looked up and gave a sigh in appreciation prompting Marco to look up. At the top of the stairs Star was standing wearing a sparkling aquamarine dress with purple highlights that seemed to make her eyes glow a faint purplish-green color he loved. It seemed to even make the dorky aspects of her make her even more attractive than usual making him just stand there and stare at her in awe. She came down the stairs slowly and moved to stand right in front of him staring at him with equal entrancement as they reached out taking each other's hands. After a few seconds of this they heard movement from the parent's side prompting them to look and double take in shock seeing their parents record this incident like they had of Marco feeding Star pancakes.

"Don't move, I need to get this just right." Raphael drew quickly with Star and Marco looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes before stepping apart with Star speaking.

"So um… when do we need to be there?" Toffee pulled out a pocket watch checking it quickly before speaking.

"Well not for half an hour at the very least, you seem to be overly eager." Everyone chuckled with Star sniffing the air for a second and bending down towards Marco's butt. "Um, Star…" Star pulled back up and spoke with everyone slightly concerned.

"How did you know that was one of my favorite scents Marco?" The parents all turned to Marco who began sweating profusely as he spoke.

"Yeah… about what just happened…"

 **Did I do a good job? I've kind of been having trouble writing recently and I don't know if I did good enough this time around, ike several times before. Regardless let's get this engine moving again and start pumping out chapters.**


	67. Adorkable Dance Pt 2

**It's time once again for another game of "SPOT THAT REFERENCE!" Good luck one and all and do enjoy the game.**

Mr. Lancer smiled as he watched another family walk into the gymnasium feeling a pleasant early summer wind go by. So far the night was turning out well with high numbers of kids not only coming but bringing their parents as well. 'Perhaps now I am finally getting what it takes to associate with the younger generation for a change.' Lancer thought to himself as he saw the next family come to the entrance. He recognized Jackie Lynn Thomas in a beautiful aquamarine and seafoam color dress with a starfish hair clip to top it all off. He guessed that the person with her was her mother Christine Lynn Thomas wearing clothing similar to what Jackie normally wore. She looked similar to Jackie physically except she had darker skin, brown eyes, and brown hair. He spoke up as the two got close to the entrance.

"Hello Jackie, and you must be Mrs. Lynn Thomas." He held out a hand which she shook with a relaxed smile as she replied.

"Yes. Nice to meet you in person Principal Lancer." Their conversation was interrupted by a fiery portal being cut into existence with Tom, wearing a white suit, and the Wandering Hippie walking out with Tom talking.

"Are you sure this looks nice, I don't want to put the wrong foot forward when… oh hey Jackie." Tom smiled nervously pulling on the collar of his suit while Jackie spoke.

"Hey dude, nice to see you could make it." As they spoke a man suddenly jumped out of some bushes speaking to Jackie with an angry voice.

"You are dating a demon!" The group of people looked back and forth as they took in man in front of them as Jackie and Christine rolled her eyes. He was wearing a formal suit and had white skin with green eyes and, most unusually, his hair was blond with multiple streaks of the turquoise color like Jackie had in her streak.

"Yes Uncle Alan, I am dating a demon. Didn't I tell you he was an unusual gu…" Alan cut off Jackie's reply however.

"But a demon! Do you know what those things do!" The WH stepped forward and started speaking.

"Sir I get your paranoia about demons but as someone who has helped him manage his an-" Tom pushed him to the ground with an oof with a nervous smile on his face.

"... anxiety, yes that was a bit of an issue to deal with *hehe*. But I'm a good guy now so no need to worry." Alan fixed him with a stare that made Tom blink in shock before wilting slightly and taking a step back in fear. Alan then spoke up while giving the 'eye-on-you' gesture.

"Oh Really? Well I've got my eye on yo…" He was cut off when Christine spoke up.

"Wait, whose watching little Nickie if you are here?" Alan sighed and spoke up.

"Oh he's with Charles…" He froze as if realizing what he just said. "… Oh wait that is a problem!" He went to move and sent one last look at Tom. "And remember, eye on you." He then turned the corner with Christine turning towards the group apologizing.

"I'm sorry but Alan can get a bit… protective if you will." Everyone nodded at that as Jackie went over speaking to a still shaking Tom.

"Hey Tom, you ok?" She pulled out a random conch shell and held it to his ear making him calm down as he replied.

"What… happened. I was just suddenly… so afraid of him?" The WH got up shaking himself off and speaking.

"Yeah that was unusual." Lancer, shaking off the weird that just occurred, smiled at the WH speaking up.

"Say have I met you before?" The WH shook his head chuckling slightly.

"No I just have that kind of presence for some reason." At this Christine stepped forward to Tom smiling and holding out her hand.

"So you must be Tom, nice to meet you. Don't worry about my brother-in-law he is a might bit religious and being a district attorney has given him a might bit of an intimidating atmosphere." Tom smiled at Jackie's mom and held out his hand to shake with her speaking up.

"Nice to meet you to ma'am." As the atmosphere relaxed a limo pulled up in front of the entrance with Chloe stepping out of it. "Is that Chloe from the sleepover?" Chloe shooed off a valet who was running to at least close her door as she closed it speaking up kindly.

"No need to worry, I can handle this." The valet nodded caught between relief and anxiety as he went back and moved the limo to park. "Seriously why is my dad so insistent upon these things if he is not coming?" Chloe straightened out her beautiful sunshine dress and spoke up. "Jackie and Tom, nice to see you." Jackie smiled and spoke up.

"Nice to see you again, especially in style. Your parents not coming?" Chloe shook her head with a strange look of relief on her face.

"No, dad has work to deal with. Probably for the best as he is a rather intimidating man at times." Tom nodded in sympathy and spoke up as well.

"Yeah same with both of my parents on both fronts." Lancer frowned as he took this in and spoke up.

"Well it's a shame they couldn't come but at least you two managed to get here." Tom smiled and put his hand around Jackie's waist with Jackie doing the same for him. Chloe looked around the lot speaking up.

"Say where is Alfonzo? Shouldn't everyone be here by now?"

"I am here, just a minute later then I should be." Everyone turned to see Alfonzo was coming up wearing a grey suit that fit him rather well. Behind him was a man that looked almost exactly like Alfonzo except he had short hair and no glasses with a professional stern look on his face. "Oh guys this is my dad, Steven." The man gave a well-practiced smile and extended his hand offering a well-practiced handshake to Lancer, Christine, and the WH speaking up in a surprisingly deep voice.

"Charmed to meet you all. It was a bit difficult but I managed to get off work as this is an important night for my boy." He rubbed his son's head in a surprisingly affectionate move given his professional demeanor. "So where is this Chloe I've heard about?" Chloe raised her hand hesitantly with Steven smiling at her. "Nice to meet you."

Lancer chuckled as the small groups coalesced into a big one only to be brought to attention by flapping wings and a bird's shriek. The parent's looked up in shock to see Floyd cruise to the ground setting down Oskar who was dressed… 'Well he actually looks rather snappy in a suit and with the hair out of his eyes.' Lancer thought to himself as Oskar stepped forward glancing around nervously speaking up.

"Say do I look good guys. Wanna give a good impression for Tempest's parents am I right?" At his words Lancer stepped forward speaking to Oskar.

"I would say you clean up rather nicely Oskar. Nice to see you decided to come." Oskar nodded a bit meek as Jackie, Alfonzo, Chloe, and Tom gathered around to say hi. As they did so the WH turned towards Lancer and spoke up.

"Say you wouldn't happen to be hiring school counselors would you? I was Tom's Anger Management therapist but now that he's good I have surprisingly no work." Lancer blinked in confusion and replied.

"Well sure we can, but I can't just hire you out of the blue. What's your name." He chuckled and replied to Lancer speaking up.

"Call me the Wander Hippie. And don't ask me my real name as I don't know what it is myself for some reason. Memory blanking spells can be a real bitch."

"Sir Language! There are kids here." Steven spoke up a bit annoyed as the Hippie nodded.

"Sorry, I just really hate what that one sorcerer did to me." Steven and Christine looked at Lancer with questions in their eyes with Lancer nodding and speaking.

"Yes this stuff is real; be ready for a wild ride at times with these kids." At this a loud woman's voice was heard coming from nearby.

"Oh those must be your friends. Hello everyone!" The group turned to see Ferguson was here dressed up in what looked like a sailor suit that Donald duck would wear for some reason, except the blue parts were white. The woman next to him was slightly rotund and short with red hair and brilliant green eyes. But what caught the eye were her clothes which looked to be what a 1950's house wife would wear, complete with a spotless apron and her hair done up in a similar fashion to the 1950's. "Oh where is Janna? I so much want to meet the girl that my boy is in love with." The kids chuckled as Ferguson rolled his eyes smiling slightly speaking up.

"She's not here yet mom. My best guess is she's set up an ambush of some sort." The kids nodded with Alfonzo speaking up.

"That does sound like Janna. How are you surviving being her boyfriend by the way?" At this Christine spoke up in concern to Lancer.

"I've heard quite a bit about Janna from Jackie, should I be worried?" Lancer sighed and nodded as he replied.

"While what she does is mostly harmless you do need to be worried about her; and keep a careful eye on your pockets." Steven blinked in concern at this speaking up.

"What kind of a group of friends has my son gotten involved with?" As if the punctuate his point another portal opened up with the distinctive sound of scissors cutting a hole.

Stepping through were River, Bonibell, and Tempest with Tempest wearing what looked to be a purple suit like that a magician would wear. As they came through Tempest immediately flitted on over to Oskar pulling him into a hug speaking up.

"Hey sugar, it's so nice to see you again." He turned to his parents. "Mom dad, you remember Oskar from that time with the cookie beasts do you?" River laughed out loud at this and stepped forward speaking.

"Of course I do my boy and he looks better than ever." He punched Oskar's arm 'softly' as he continued. "So you are with my son eh? I must say you two are excellent for each other." Bonibell fluttered over and kissed Oskar's cheek while smiling broadly as she spoke.

"I knew this night meant a lot for you two; its nights' like these that I remember mine and my meat muffin's first dance." She moved over to River hugging his face as River chuckled and spoke.

"Indeed Sugar wings." He then turned to the adults and spoke up. "You must be some of the kids parents. My name is River and this is my wife Bonibell." Ferguson's mom nearly squealed at this and replied.

"My name is Karen and OMIGOD an actual PIXIE!" She moved over taking a close look at Bonibell. "My son was telling the truth, it's like a dream come true." Christine was chuckling at this while Steven looked a bit flustered and turned to Lancer for support, to which Lancer simply shrugged in confusion.

Oskar was breathing heavily in relief as everyone introduced themselves yet again to each other. He knew he shouldn't have been worried given what Tempest had said about Pixie society and its views on sexuality but that didn't mean his inbuilt nervousness at being judged was dissipated. Tempest looked at him smiling but then blinked in confusion speaking up.

"Say man where are your parents?" At this Alfonzo and Ferguson got eerily quiet and tried shushing Tempest from behind Oskar's back as Oskar spoke.

"Mom's not coming, too 'busy' as she would put it." River came over speaking up at this.

"That's a shame; t'would be a pleasure to meet the parents of this fine young boy." River's words were cut down however by a surprisingly bitter laugh from Oskar.

"No man, no you don't." River and Tempest looked at each other uncomfortably as a new male voice broke into the scene.

"A bird that shows similarities between the families Accipitridae and Paradisaeidae that has the same body size as an Asiatic elephant; intriguing." The now rather large group turned to see three new figures approaching with one veering off to look at Floyd. "How can a creature of this size even get off the ground?"

The figure that was speaking looked to be tall, slim, and dark skinned with brown eyes and was wearing formal cloths but seemed to pull it off in a manner of 'this is what I wear' rather than 'I'm getting dressed up'. The only odd feature about him was a black beanie that completely covered his head so nothing above the ear line was visible. He also seemed to have this nervous twitch about him as he studied the bird more closely. Coming up behind him was a woman that looked and had a demeanor of being the complete opposite of him. She was wearing sturdy if old looking army pants and boots accompanied by a black tank top with bits of dried paint and axel grease spattered over them. She had jaw length blue dyed hair that went with her pale freckled skin and her left eye that was a deep blue color. To add to the 'bad girl' appearance she also had a few ear piercings, tattoos over her lower arms, and an eye patch over her right eye. Coming up behind her, in a surprisingly frilly pink dress offset by a green beanie, was Janna who began rushing over when she saw their group gathered up.

"Hey guys, finally made it or are all of you just early?" Ferguson smiled broadly and turned to Karen speaking up.

"Mom, this is Janna, my girlfriend." Karen immediately squealed and ran over picking up a shocked Janna into a surprisingly strong hug.

"OMIGOD you are so ADORABLE! I knew my son's girlfriend would be oh so beautiful." The kids began chuckling over this as Ferguson spoke up through his laughter.

"Mom easy, too much love is about the only thing that could kill Janna." As the smothering continued Floyd stared at Janna's dad in confusion as he tried analyzing the bird. As he did so the woman grabbed his shoulder making him jump in shock before relaxing to a jitter state.

"Marie you know I hate it when you do that." Marie shrugged and smiled coyly at him before speaking.

"Oh come on double-d, need to keep on your toes in this crowd." She gestured over to the adults with Edd blinking in confusion upon seeing Bonibell.

"I um *ahem* greetings fellow parents, my name is Eddward Ordonia and this is my wife Marie Ordonia, it is a pleasure to meet you." Lancer smiled stepping forward shaking hands with Janna's parents and speaking up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Principal Lancer, although I think you've heard of me by this point given how your daughter acts." Marie shrugged and crossed her arms smiling as she spoke.

"She just has a certain way of expressing herself, no biggie." As the adults talked Karen finally let go of Janna with Tom speaking up.

"Man, I didn't think those dresses were your thing Janna." Janna looked down at her dress blushing slightly.

"What you know pink is my favorite color guys, though it was my dad's idea to get all dressed up even though my mom gets to wear her normal get up." Everyone laughed with Ferguson speaking up.

"Well you pull it off rather well, but are you going to a formal dance or a rave?" He poked at her beanie with Janna poking at his chest.

"And what is your style, Donald Duck?" The two prodded at each other for a minute with the big group getting along quite nicely until Floyd began chirping and pointing with his beak to an incoming car. "Hey I think Star and Marco made it." The kids rushed over with Lancer explaining to the parents what the big deal was.

"You see Marco is an ordinary boy but Star is an… interesting child. In a good way not a bad way." Bonibell spoke up at that confirming Lancer.

"Yes we actually know her quite well. She is actually a princess from the world of Mewni and the daughter of some of our best friends Queen Moon Butterfly and King Toffee Butterfly." Karen, Christine, Edd, Marie, and Steven looked at River, Bonibell, and Lancer in confusion with Steven speaking up.

"Again I need to ask, what kind of group of friends has my son gotten involved with?" Marie chuckled and spoke up with a smile.

"Oh I don't know, but I'm interested in learning more." The WH spoke up at this pointing to Bonibell and River.

"Well if you two managed to make it with your busy schedules I am fairly certain Moon and Toffee have made it." A collection of gasps from the kids drew their attention catching glimpses of Star and Marco in their altered states.

"Whoa I knew we are all dorks, but that's just excessive." Jackie's words were seconded by everyone as Star spoke up.

"Well I kinda messed up with a hair spell and… well… did this to myself." Marco spoke up at this.

"She also got me by chance and there doesn't seem to be a way to undo it. Our best guess was that Star didn't do anything wrong but was affected by a random pulse of magical energy that came out of nowhere." The kids nodded in understanding as Janna and Ferguson sweated slightly as a realization hit them.

"Oh come on Marco don't sell yourself short." Angie got out of the car smiling at everyone. "When Star was affected by the spell Marco couldn't bear to have Star moping about her appearance so he asked for Moon to do this to him so he could make her feel more secure." An awe filled silence encased them with Tom speaking up.

"Ease up there Marco, how are us guys supposed to compete with you at this rate?!" Raphael emerged from the car chuckling and spoke up.

"I said the exact same thing demon boy." Raphael double took at that taking a step back. "Demon boy? You wouldn't happen to be working for El Diablo would you?" Marco groaned and turned to his dad speaking up.

"Dad, Tom is a Lucitor, his parents rule hell they don't work for 'him'." Raphael nodded as Tom looked around awkwardly with Jackie providing moral support. The adults pulled on over with Lancer calling out to the Diaz's.

"It's nice to finally meet you Mr. and Mrs. Diaz. Although I do have to ask where are Mr. and Mrs.- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!" Lancer double took before he could silence himself as he caught sight of Moon and Toffee with most of the crowd blinking in shock at them. "I'm sorry, I was just taken off guard Mr. and Mrs. Butterfly?" Lancer looked at them in confusion as Toffee calmly spoke.

"Well where did you expect Star to get her Septarian influences?" Star giggled at this and spoke up.

"Yep that's me, a daddy girl." River and Bonibell laughed at that with River clasping Moon a hug.

"Wonderful to see you again Moon!"

"And wonderful seeing you again River." As conversation erupted again Karen spoke up.

"Ok people, time to do pictures!" The adults immediately pulled out cameras with the kids rolling their eyes as they went along with it. As they took pictures Steven once again spoke up.

"Again I must ask, what kind of group have you gotten yourself involved with Alfonzo?" Alfonzo scratched his chin for a second before replying.

"My group." Steven shrugged and continued taking pictures.

"That's fair." As pictures were being snapped the Wandering Hippie excused himself speaking to Tom one last time.

"Remember, you have overcome your anger issues and you can partah just like anyone else. Just relax and everything will be fine." The Hippie winked at Tome pulling out a rune covered staff and twirled it cutting another portal which he bounded through.

Photos were shot with the parents focusing on their kids in front of a backdrop Lancer had set up specifically for this task. 'Damn I thought of everything this evening.' Lancer thought to himself with a self satisfied smirk until he remembered Marco had actually given him most of the ideas. He glanced over at Marco and Star and couldn't help but think of how adorkably cute the two looked in their awkward years as a couple. This made him sigh in sadness as he was reminded once again of how he had no one in his life that was even remotely like that since... well ever. He shook his head clearing the thoughts from it as at this point it didn't matter, the kids were what was important to him now and he would focus on that. His concentration and lamenting were both interrupted by Marie yelling something along the lines of 'taking him Kanker style' prompting him to look up seeing Janna was french kissing a rather shocked looking Ferguson. He almost stepped in to break them up but held himself back as this was the kids night; so long as they didn't go 'too' far he should let them enjoy themselves. As if to push the point home Moon and Toffee immediately pulled each other in for a kiss with Moon stripping off her formal gown to reveal street style clothing and tattoos that easily outclassed Marie's. 'Well despite the fact that she is a queen she is still an individual.' Lancer thought as he reassessed Moon and Toffee for the 10th time in as many minutes. When everyone was finally done Lancer decided it was time for him to join in on the festivities and led the group to the main entrance of the gymnasium speaking up.

"Alright people, I got many of the ideas for tonight from various polls of what the kids wanted so I'm sure it's gonna be a good night." He opened the door showing what was going on. "Behold and be... disappointed?" Lancer double took at the site that laid before him.

The scene in front of him was what he had feared would happen if he had been completely in charge of it; an awkward dance room filled with kids too afraid to step forward and teachers berating kids who did step up to dance. It was made even worse by parents who were either embarrassing their kids or drinkign the adult 'punch' set up for them. All over the scene cheap and outdated pop music played making the scene even more awkward. The group that followed him just stared out inot the crowd before Marie spoke up sarcastically.

"Jeez this party is greaaaaaaat." River spoke up at this completely confused.

"This is a party? More like the scene of a party after something bad happened and no one wants to continue it." Lancer sighed and slumped his shoulders in defeat speaking up.

"I'm sorry kids, and here I thought I could actually do something..." He paused and pulled out a book reading from it. "... 'hip and with the crowd man'. *sigh* If you kids want to go elsewhere its fine; I won't take it personally." The crowd looked at each other awkwardly before Moon stepped forward speaking up.

"No. I have been in far more desperate circumstances then this; my daughter has been looking forward to this since the idea was pitched and I am not going to just let it slid by the wayside due to improper execution." She pulled out a hand mirror and called someone speaking into it. "Yes Helsinki, we have a code Tuti-fruti and you are needed immediately. Come NOW!" Moon hung up with everyone looking at her in shock with Chloe commenting.

"Wow, your mom is rather intense Star." This prompted Lancer to speak up with a slightly worried tone of voice.

"Um... what exactly do you have in mind Mrs. Butterfly?" Moon smiled at him knowingly with Toffee speaking up.

"I'm afraid you are about to find out my dear sir."

 **PS. Sorry this took so long to get out people. Unless of course you started reading this story after 2/15/2019 in which case I just wasted your time. ;)**


	68. Adorkable Dance Pt 3

Miss Skullnick's eyes swept over the high school gymnasium converted into a dance floor with hawk like observance. So far nothing major had happened but given what had happened at the school over the last few months she knew something was going to happen; and it likely wasn't going to be good. She knew Lancer wasn't in favor of them bearing down like this but they were there to maintain order not party like it was 1999. Also the parents were watching them like cats, and similarly judging them. Out of the corner of her eye she caught two students immediately break apart when a teacher threatened to step in and sighed slightly. 'Oh kids I know how you want to go about it, but that can't be allowed.' She thought to herself as she skimmed over the parents whom either were chatting with other parents or looking somewhat bored. She shook her head slightly to keep herself focused but was stopped when the lights and music suddenly went out.

"Oh grapenuts." One of the teachers spoke up in exasperation as people milled about in the dark uncertainly for a second.

"Alright people, just a power outage nothing big. Just wait and we will have this back on track." Skullnick got out a flashlight, she had anticipated SOMETHING going to happen, and gathered the teacher together as best she could. "All right, someone get to the breaker box and find out what is going on. The rest of you go outside and sweep the perimeter. Either a group of kids is pulling a prank on us or we need to call the police as I am not taking chances this time. I will stay here and keep things in order." The teachers broke off to do their assigned tasks but a few were hesitant to leave her alone; to which she promptly assured their worries. "In this situation the parents can back me up if the kids panic and if it's a 'different' type of problem I can deal with them for quite some time myself." Skullnick cracked her knuckles with the teachers going off still somewhat worried.

Skullnick turned back to the somewhat calmed down crowd of students who were looking around more in excitement than anything else. 'Well can you blame them given the boring circumstances beforehand.' Skullnick thought to herself rolling her eyes. She looked to see some adults coming up towards her guided by her flashlight and the faint natural light coming in through the windows. As she got ready to deal with them music suddenly began playing.

 **(Ke$ha - Die Young (LYRICS)) watch?v=MgoYJIBNEYQ**

She looked around blinking for a second before lights came back on directly over the stage revealing several humanoid animals playing musical instruments. Including a rooster with some sort electric lute if that was possible, a blindfolded hyena playing a keytar, an octopus in a barber's outfit on drums, and a gazelle that had an amazing singing voice.

 **I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums. Oh, what a shame that you came here with someone.**

 **So while you're here in my arms. Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young.**

As the gazelle sung a neon sign came on saying 'Bad girls, pick your adorable dork!' with large sparklers going off on either side of it. As it went off a four women stepped up beneath the sign clearly being parent age though they held themselves like teenagers. Skullnick recognized Angie, Marie (too many parent teacher conferences), Helsinki (oh L joy), and what looked strangely enough like how Star described her mother Moon except with informal clothing and wearing tribalistic tattoos.

 **We're gonna die young, We're gonna die young**

 **Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young**

The four gazed across the gymnasium like predators looking for food.

"Alright ladies, pick a man for the night and strut your stuff like you're dying young." Moon spoke up in a commanding if laid back voice as the women cut out to poke around with Marie replying.

"Looks like I already found mine." She moved up to the surrounding crowd and plucked Edd out of it. "Now let me show you how to 'loosen up'." She spun Edd around with him looking a mite bit nervous as she did so with Angie speaking up.

"Oh I got the big hunk." She pulled Raphael out of the crowd with him speaking up in Spanish.

"Qué te llevó tanto ángel? (What took you so long angel)" Raphael then took the lead pulling Angie onto the floor and started dancing with her rather energetically.

 **(Instrumental)**

As Skullnick tried to wrap her head around what had just happened she saw Moon step to the audience and catch the attention of… 'My God is that a humanoid lizard?' Skullnick thought in shock as the entity smiled calmly at Moon and spoke.

"I was wondering when a shining Moon would bless me with her rays. Care to 'tear up the dance floor' as many would put it." Moon smiled in a coy manner and replied.

"Keep talking like that and we're going to do MUCH more than that." She pulled him onto the adhoc dance floor that had formed.

Everyone was staring in shock and clearing an area in the center of the room as they watched the three couples dance in a lively and at times provocative manner. Skullnick looked around seeing all the doors had been closed so no one could get in now, including all of the other teachers she had sent away.

 **Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young**

To top everything off Skullnick's jaw dropped when she saw Helsinki pull Lancer onto the dance floor.

 **Young hearts, out our minds, Runnin' till we outta time**

 **Wild childs, lookin' good, Livin' hard just like we should**

"Come on Lanceh, ave some fun wit me out ere you adorable dork." Lancer seemed nervous but there was something off about it as he replied.

"I'm the principal; I'm supposed to be setting examples!" Helsinki laughed out loud at that and twirled him a bit on the floor before replying.

 **Don't care whose watching when we tearing it up (you know)**

 **That magic that we got nobody can touch (for sure)**

"Of course, that's why you'e dancin wit me." She began dancing with Lancer in a strangely dominating manner as she continued speaking. "Now set an example an party like ya mean it!" Another yell from Marie got Skullnick's attention.

 **Looking for some trouble tonight (yeah)**

 **Take my hand, I'll show you the wild side**

"That's my girl, take im Kanker style!" Skullnick turned and double took when she saw Janna had dragged Ferguson onto the dance floor and was outright grinding on him.

 **Like it's the last night of our lives (uh huh)**

 **We'll keep dancing till we die**

'What the flying fuck!' Skullnick thought to herself as some teen couples were already following their example and going out onto the dance floor to participate. 'I've got to stop this.'

 **I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums, Oh, what a shame that you came here with someone**

 **So while you're here in my arms, Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young.**

As she went to yell out however she found she couldn't open her mouth at all. Blinking in confusion she felt at her mouth to find she couldn't touch it due to some sort of barrier over it. Shaking her head she looked at Janna and Ferguson in anger going to step onto the floor to break things up. She didn't even get three steps however before she found herself floating up and away from the dance floor towards the ceiling. Struggle as she might she couldn't even get noise out to get people's attention as she floated up to the exposed rafters. As she floated up there she was turned around to see a pixie girl smiling coyly as magic spun out of her hand encapsulating Skullnick speaking up.

 **We're gonna die young, We're gonna die young**

 **Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young**

"Sorry sweetie, but I can't have you interfere with my son's first earth ball, what they would a call a 'school dance'. So you are staying to the side until the party gets going to the point where no one can stop it without canceling the whole event." She then turned Skullnick towards to dance floor so she could observe what was going on.

Skullnick observed that some of the parents were trying to maintain order but they were slowly becoming outnumbered by parents stepping to the side or even joining their kids on the dance floor. 'What is even happening?!' Skullnick thought in confusion.

 **(Instrumental)**

Alfonzo and Chloe stepped out into the floor dancing in a more reserved and slow fashion but with the silent support of Steven as he smiled at the two. His support was short lived however as Karen pulled him onto the dance floor and began dancing in an UNBELIVABLEY unorthodox and sloppy fashion that somehow made up for its lack of grace through shear energy. The reserved and professional man spent about five seconds trying to figure out what was going on before just throwing caution to the wind and joining in. Jackie and Tom stepped out and began dancing with several people out right staring at the demon in awe. Christine stepped out onto the side and just began dancing by herself encouraging those who were by themselves to start dancing.

 **Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die**

As a flock of people went over to dance by themselves Skullnick thought, 'Welp, this isn't stopping now.'

 **Young hunks, taking shots, Stripping down to dirty socks**

 **Music up, gettin' hot, Kiss me, give me all you've got**

Her eyes scanned the dance floor out of reflex seeing Chanatal and RuffTuff dancing in very different styles with each other but enjoying it non-the less. She also saw Sabrina dancing with one of the swim team members and, predictably, falling over every three steps or so. He caught her every time however with nothing more than a chuckle and set her upright.

 **It's pretty obvious that you've got a crush (you know)**

 **That magic in your pants, it's making me blush (for sure)**

Her eyes found Lancer and Helsinki again and… 'Oh my god is she GRINDING ON HIM!' Skullnick was helpless to do nothing but watch as Lancer went along with Helsinki grinding up against him. And what's more, it seemed like he was actually enjoying it despite what she had heard about him. Then again he seemed to be going along with her considering she pulled him out a little TOO easily.

 **Looking for some trouble tonight (yeah)**

 **Take my hand I'll show you the wild side**

This was also noticed by the few who were actively trying to stop the dancing who gave up stepping to the side upon seeing that nothing was being accomplished. At this the pixie giggled and began setting down Skullnick in front of the main entrance whispering to her.

 **Like it's the last night of our lives (uh huh)**

 **We'll keep dancing till we die (till we die)**

"Perhaps you should just enjoy the evening for once, like I'm going too." She flew away at that to join a short man with a long beard who was dancing alongside Oskar and what looked to be the inspiration of many yaoi fangirl drawings at the school recently.

 **I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums, Oh, what a shame that you came here with someone**

 **So while you're here in my arms, Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young.**

Skullnick just stood there as the effects of the magic wore off not doing anything while the party continued in front of her with no end in sight eventually speaking up.

"Well… to be completely honest I was hoping for people to actually have fun at this dance. Might as well just stay to the side and ensure no one gets hurt while keeping other teachers from wasting their breath." Skullnick went over and sat by the door on a random chair to just enjoy the sight as much as she could.

She glanced around with a hawk's eye ready to scoop up someone if they did get hurt in the confusion when her eye caught the most adorable sight she could have imagined. Star and Marco were in a quiet corner of the room dancing to the music in their own manner right next to each other, Star being ballroom style and Marco being ballet style. What made it adorable however was the fact that it looked like they were going through their awkward years again with various 'awkward accessories.' She stared at the two solidly before a massive grin broke out over her face and she leaned back in her chair speaking to herself.

"You know what, I'm going to overlook everything that just happened and is going on here just for that sight alone." Then she heard slamming on the doors.

 **I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums, Oh, what a shame that you came here with someone**

 **So while you're here in my arms, Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young**

She stood up and went over to the door opening it up to see the teachers had gathered outside in confusion.

"Mrs. Skullnick what…" They froze as they watched what seemed to be the climax of the dance start up with most everyone dancing. "Ummmmm…" They stood as deer in the headlights until Skullnick spoke up.

"Not much we can do at this point unfortunately, unless we want to call the police. So how about we just make sure no one gets hurt and get those that do get hurt to safety. That sound good?" They all stared at her like she was insane as she continued. "By the way, Lancer is in their dancing with that double disaster Helsinki Greyjoy; and she's grinding on him." At that the teachers rushed in just to get a good look at this. The dancers did not seem to notice them reentering the gymnasium as they scanned across the whole area to find Lancer. "Good luck finding him, it's a mad house in here."

 **We're gonna die young, We're gonna die young**

 **Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young.**

Skullnick went back to her chair and sat down just staring across the dance floor as the dance continued. Her eyes flitted across the floor resting on what she assumed were Star's parents Queen Moon and King Toffee Butterfly as they danced close to Star's and Marco's location. 'Well not very kingly or queenly to organize something like this.' She smiled ruefully at that and taped her foot along with the music noticing teachers actually joining the dance. She even saw the secretary look disappointed when she finally did see Lancer dancing with Helsinki and turned to find someone else to dance with. 'Well I told ya, what did you expect?' Skullnick thought to herself as she glanced up at the stage with the humanoid animals on it. "Although I do have one question, why do… whatever those things are, look so much like different earth animals? It's like someone was making every other world based off of our template."

 **(end music)**

* * *

"I told you it was a good idea to go tonight didn't I?" Marco smiled down at Star as she replied to his comment.

"Yes obviously, but now I could use a rest you know." Marco smiled nodding at that as they walked home.

After the initial dance the teachers had not stood in the way of further partying as Fulntrut's band mates played on. Of course afterwards Oskar was all over the guy trying to figure out how to join him and his band getting Tempest along for the ride. When Fulntrut said he would allow him to play at open DJ night Oskar and Tempest played some music for the audience that night and actually did well enough to warrant an encore. Aside from that nothing spectacular happened aside from her and Marco receiving their 'best couple' award which so happened to be a one evening all you can eat coupon to 'Malcolm's 50's pizza bar' which looking back on it was a big mistake considering Star got it. They even introduced Tempest's and Star's parents to the school as well as Tom who were received with adoring fans. He chuckled at how many times Moon got told she didn't look like a queen with her replying "Your point being?" After the whole dance their parents let Marco and Star walk home on their own for some alone time after the dance. As Marco breathed in the cool night air, or as best he could with a stuffed up nose and awkward year strength BO filled sweat, taking in the early summer smells.

"Hello my fellow youth, how goes it dawgs?" Star and Marco turned to take in a sight that was familiar and yet so alien.

There was a woman standing not too far away from them who was wearing an ACDC T-shirt and incredibly short jean shorts with a red bandanna holding back her dark green colored hair. She also had on a pair of light tinted glasses that went well with her lavender grey eyes and rounded doll like face, but not so much the gold hoop earrings she had on as well. She also had a skateboard in one hand slung over her back with a hand that looked like it was dipped in dark purple ink and left to stain. She smiled at them with a coy smile with a demeanor of an early teen even though she was obviously an adult. Star and Marco looked at each other before Star spoke.

"Um… who are you?" The woman giggled at an unknown joke and spoke up again.

"Well you will find out soon but first, who are you? Are you the lizard girl and her boyfriend I've heard a bit about?" Star glanced at Marco worried with Marco shrugging and speaking.

"Yeah, I guess we are." She giggled again and spoke to Star again.

"Well tell me a bit about yourself; I've wanted to meet you ever since I've heard about you."

Marco and Star moved onward with the mystery woman following along now asking questions about Star and Marco which they both answered. After a little while they found themselves opening up to the nice British woman even though Marco knew there was something off about her. He couldn't tell what it was exactly but something was up. The hair color, the age, the ink stained arms; they spoke of something but he wasn't sure what. He looked her up and down trying to get any hints even from her curvaceous yet athletic body… 'wait'.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to be related to Star now would you?" The two looked at Marco in shock with the woman outright laughing at that before responding.

"Well, couldn't have kept up the disguise forever; even though I was planning on telling you once we got to your house." She then snapped her fingers with her cheeks shimmering until they revealed a pair of red spades like on a playing card. "Well perhaps I should introduce myself now, my name is Eclipsa Butterfly, your eight times Great-Grandmother Star." Star stared at Eclipsa not moving for several seconds.

"You're supposed to be 320 years old; how do you look so young?" Eclipsa laughed at that, with a bitter undertone, before replying.

"Well that's what happens when you are entrapped within crystals. For now though I have a question of my own." She turned to Marco smiling. "How did you figure out it was me when I covered up my cheek marks?"

"Well I…" He then froze as he realized what gave it away and blushed profusely stuttering. "Um uh… you just… looked like a Butterfly." Eclipsa blinked in confusion with Star giving him a deadpan look before speaking.

"You noticed her body shape didn't you?" Marco hid his face blushing even more.

"I can't help it; I just like the curvy yet athletic figure that is the Butterfly milf!" Star sighed shaking her head as Eclipsa laughed out loud at that for a solid minute before composing herself.

"Oh my*ha ha* oh my word *hahahahaaaaaa* this is all too rich!" She dried away some tears as she spoke up a bit more composed to Star. "Oh don't worry dear, like the magic you inherit your body will take on my shape someday as well." Star groaned replying.

"I actually know that Eclipsa, it's just that he first noticed it when he met my mom when she was out in hunting cloths. I'm never going to forget that embarrassment no matter how hard I try." Star shook her head with Eclipsa smiling in an understanding fashion.

"Yes that actually happened with me and my mother Solaria the Monster carver way too frequently." She turned back to Marco. "Now remember, you get full access to this body but you'll need to be in it for the long run if you wish for Star to ripen…"

"Can we please not talk about that?!" Marco looked up still red faced as Eclipsa chuckled at the two being interrupted by a ringing noise.

"Oh, I should probably get back, they discovered I was gone early." She snapped her fingers opening up a portal like it was nothing impressing both Star and Marco. "Oh and before I go…" She turned Star around and hit her at basic Chakra points with short sharp jabs producing sparks of purplish light. "… there we go, that should clear up your magical aliment. TTFN, Ta Ta For Now." She stepped through the portal closing it behind her.

After a few seconds of her gone Marco and Star felt a strange stretching sensation over take their bodies with their vision going white. After a few seconds of this they were both left gasping for breath feeling surprisingly sore around the facial area mostly. As they got their senses they noticed that the other looked like they were supposed to. They felt up their own faces to confirm it and yes, the spell had in fact been undone by whatever it was Eclipsa had just done.

"Yes, our awkward years are behind us a second time!" Marco cheered bouncing around a little before calming down. "Um Star, sorry about the *ahem* having a thing for your families body type like that." Star sighed at that and replied.

"Oh its actually no biggie, I just don't like talking about the fact that you *ahem* had the hots for my mom." Star shook her head turning to Marco and smiled. "And don't worry I'm not going to get scared just because you glance at another girl, although I would prefer if you did avoid it." Marco shook his head rubbing his temples.

"I just… know how sensitive you are and um…" When Marco couldn't find the right words he felt Star's tail caress him just beneath his chin making him look up at Star who smiled coyly.

"If you wish to make up for it, tonight you are going to make Nachos and cuddle me to sleep on my balcony before carrying me to bed. And then tomorrow you are going to take me out on a laid back and relaxing date to wherever I want to go. That sound good?" Marco nodded chuckling. "Good. And Eclipsa was right you know." Star pulled away her tail flicking his chin. "You want the body for yourself; you're going to have to be in it for the long run." She giggled hopping away while waving her tail at Marco with him smiling before speaking under his breath.

"That was the plan."

 **Did you catch all the references? Each member of the band that wasn't Fulntrut is in fact a cameo to a different Disney film; the octopus is easily the hardest of them to get though.**

 **And now next time I just need to find out were everyone has gone as I am going on a hunt, 'The Unwlid Hunt' for the most dangerous game. Wait, what does that mean?**


	69. The UnWild Hunt Pt 1

**WH: Crossbow check, all weather cloak check, rations for three days check,**

 **OP: Wait why do you need three days rations, we're only going to be out for two hours?"**

 **WH: In case if I get mighty bewildered of course. It rarely happens but I'm not taking chances on this one. Now then to the hunt. Say what are we huntign anyways? *piece of mud hits me in the face***

 **Janna: Me obviously, catch me if you can. *uses a smoke bomb to disappear leaving everyone confused***

 **SN: You know I'm starting to get annoyed by her ability to break the fourth wall.**

 **WH: She's born from Ed, Edd, n Eddy characters, not much we can do about it.**

"Well can you believe that? It was almost like a fairy tale evening between those two." Moon spoke smiling a mile wide and giggling a little as she and Toffee stepped into their private study right beneath their bedroom. "I mean I thought they wouldn't go thanks to that 'riffle' in magic but what that Marco did… it's just like what a prince charming would do." Moon pulled out a photo of the night with the parents on either side of Star and Marco who were both smiling. "The fact he asked me to put that 'mistake' on him just so Star would feel less self-conscious about herself…" Moon sighed in a dreamy fashion at how great Marco was treating their daughter now prompting Toffee to speak up.

"Should I be worried about you going for a younger model?" Moon looked up as Toffee flashed a lopsided grin prompting Moon to giggle.

"Why would I do that, the older model has perfect form and function. Not to mention I would never steal my daughter's boyfriend, although my milkshakes do bring all the boys to the yard." She giggled with Toffee chuckling at this. "So, you think he's a great guy do you?" She raised her eyebrow but stopped when Toffee hesitated. "Oh come on are you really pulling the 'he's not good enough for my daughter' like a stereotypical dad would? What would Odrick think about that?" Toffee chuckled a little nervously holding a hand up.

"No no no, Marco's a fine young man and the way he has made up for his 'immature actions' showed me just how blessed our daughter is to have a guy as good as him." Moon triumphant smile came and faltered as Toffee got a serious look on his face. "I'm not worried for Star; I'm worried for Marco's sake." Moon blinked in confusion as Toffee elaborated. "You know the law stating that the queen can marry whomever she chooses right?" Moon chuckled and spoke up.

"Of course, in fact it was because of that law that Baby could not push an official complaint against us being married." Toffee nodded with his serious look remaining.

"Well the issue is many a noble house has been pining after Star ever since you made her your official heir on her birthday. I've had to deal with dozens of potential suitors knocking on my door looking to become king of Mewni." Moon groaned at that as she knew most of them found Star hideous and were only interested in exploiting their daughter for political power. "And what do you think they are going to do when they find out a 'peasant boy' from another dimension has won her heart?" Moon looked at Toffee about to say something lighthearted but the grim look on his face made a chill run up her spine as she spoke nervously.

"What are you getting at dear?" Toffee breathed in and out slowly as he spoke.

"Even at the best of times nobles compete with each other to see who is on the top and the best way to do that is to intermarry with the Butterfly lineage itself. If you remember many groups remained on The Shadow Clause's side despite what had been done to them simply because we were a couple." Moon nodded sensing things were going in a bad direction. "And now is not a good time to be a noble. The lands are being restructured due to multiple lesser kingdoms being incorporated into ours and the plans you have in place, thanks to the new bureaucracy, means that many noble families will have nothing in terms of power and very little in land. This 'Constitution' and 'Bill of Rights' that Mr. Lancer and Ludo have proposed to us is also hitting them hard by giving more power to the commoners. That means consolidation will be occurring and the best way to do that is to marry with the Butterfly royal family to preserve their noble lineage." He raised his eyebrow in warning as he spoke softly. "And what do you think these desperate households are going to do when they find out the heir to the kingdom herself is being denied to them by a boy no more important in their eyes then a stable hand?" Moon blinked as she spoke trying to figure out what he meant.

"Well… they can't officially protest and they wouldn't rebel in protest as they have no hope… wait…" Her face went white as she realized what Toffee was getting at. "You mean… they might assassinate him?!" Toffee nodded as Moon stuttered for a second before reforming herself. "Ye Gods no… Marco just got dragged into a pit of vipers!" Toffee immediately pulled Moon into an embrace and rubbed her head to calm her down. "I knew some wouldn't like it but that much?!" Toffee spoke softly at this.

"They are desperate Moon and desperate people do horrible things. But worry not because as strange as it may seem it's not as bad as you think it is." Moon blinked in confusion as he elaborated. "He has us on his side and all our friends to back him up if push comes to shove. In addition Marco himself has proven to be far from defenseless in many instances. And we have one weapon on our side in particular, no one in Mewni knows about them." Moon squeezed him back a little as Toffee continued to pet her softly. "We can take this time and prepare Marco so that when the vipers begin to stir he is not a mouse but a mongoose ready to fight back." Moon smiled at this the panic ebbing slightly as she spoke.

"True, but how are we going to prepare him? We can't exactly draw much attention to him without their relationship being revealed?" Toffee flashed her a lopsided grin and spoke up.

"Everyone knows that Star is in another dimension and most assume it is somewhere on earth at this point; it is the worst kept secret of ours after all." Moon nodded at this a bit unsure. "We can tell people he is a friend of hers who has proven rather capable and valiant to the point where we are considering making him a squire to the princess herself. That way we can spend time educating him without drawing the wrong kind of attention to him." Moon's smile broadened as that likely meant she would able to visit him and her daughter more frequently or at least have them visit Mewni more frequently. "Of course as tradition demands we do have to 'initiate' him to see what he is actually worth." At this Moon finally pulled back to look up at a surprisingly mischievous look on Toffee's face.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" Moon spoke both nervous and excited at his enthusiasm.

"You know the gathering of nobles that is coming up on The Red Wulf's Day."

* * *

Marco finished up the bacon pancake flipping it to Star who caught it in midair with her teeth before setting it on her plate. Marco smiled mischievously and flung three more pancakes in rapid succession with Star catching every single one of them with her mouth. Star set them down on her plate which she promptly filled with syrup as she stuck her tongue out at Marco before speaking.

"You can't best me you know that right?" Marco chuckled as poured the last of the batter in the pan to make one big pancake for himself.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna try regardless." As he finished up someone knocked on the door making him groan. "Seriously, I had just finished this up." He set the plate on the table and went to the door to answer. "Hello…" He stopped mid-sentence however when he saw an elderly man in a butler's outfit standing there with a scroll.

"Hello there my lad, is this the Diaz's residence?" Marco nodded with the man offering a small smile. "Are you by chance Marco Diaz?" Marco nodded with the man smiling even more and unfurled the scroll. "Well my dear Marco, I come bearing a message from King Toffee himself. He wishes to cordially invite you on a friendly hunt to better learn more about you guide and guardian of the princess. It shall happen tomorrow at the stroke of noon and I do suggest you attend as it seems Toffee views you with great interest sir." As the man finished Star peaked around the corner and spoke up.

"Say Marco who is… oh hi Butler." Star stepped around the corner with the man's smile growing even more before speaking.

"Ah yes Star Butterfly, tis a pleasure to see you." Star leapt forward and hugged him with Butler speaking to Marco again. "A portal shall be opened in your room at the set time and you best wear outdoor clothes as it will involve strenuous activity." Marco nodded and spoke up.

"I will be ready sir." Butler nodded and pulled apart from Star opening a portal speaking up.

"I do hope you enjoy the outing, I will be there once the hunt has concluded to offer refreshments and what not. Have a good day sir." He stepped back through the portal closing it behind him with Marco turning to Star eagerly.

"Star you're not going to believe this, your dad has invited me out for some bonding time. I knew he liked me; no worries about over-protective dads today." Star blinked in confusion speaking up.

"On a hunt?" Marco nodded with Star getting a puzzled face. "But dad hates hunting, why would he take you out to bond over something he hates." Marco's smile faltered as that bit of information was given to him with Star shrugging. "Oh well, maybe he's making it a group event to introduce you to several people. So when is it happening?" Marco's smile brightened up once again as he and Star went back to finish breakfast.

* * *

Marco stepped through the portal wearing his ordinary clothing with some hiking boots as per Star's suggestion as this was likely an unofficial event; although he was carrying one of Star's translators so he could speak with everyone. Marco glanced around the area he stepped in getting a good look at what he identified as the Forest of Certain Death due to the last few times he had been in Mewni. As he breathed in the cool clean air he was suddenly squeezed from behind with the air being pushed out of his lungs.

"Comrade, nice to see you still drawing breath." Marco gasped for a second before Buff Frog put him down spinning him around. "You ready for this hunt?" Marco nodded speaking up.

"I have never actually hunted in yours terms a day in my life but I am ready." Buff Frog chuckled as if to a hidden joke before speaking.

"Perhaps you are. A few things to note before we get started though." Buff Frog faced with a serious look. "One, do not let on that you and Star are a couple. This hunt is not just bonding time between you and Toffee it is presenting you to several notable nobles and family members so is best to keep that under wraps for now da?" Marco nodded a bit confused.

"Um ok."

"Second, the reason why you are officially here is for Toffee to judge whether or not you would make a good squire to be trained as a knight. Keep that in mind." Marco nodded his smile returning.

"So this is a type of test or initiation?" Buff Frog's smile returned as he replied.

"Da comrade, you catch on quick. You're going to need to." At those words Buff Frog led Marco off through the woods a little ways. After a few minutes they arrived in a clearing with multiple figures who appeared to have hunting garments or various armor on them. "These Marco are the hunters you will be with. And if you don't see Toffee he will be… joining you later on." Marco blinked in confusion at the tone of voice Buff Frog used for the last few words and looked everyone over.

"Who are those two?" Marco pointed to two figures in particular that stood out in his eyes.

One was an older man who had dark skin, darker then Marco's dad, but with icy blue eyes and an impressive silver beard and mustache. He was tall and while thinner than most was solidly built to the point where he could likely get in a shoving match with an ox… and win. The figure next to him was around Marco's height and appeared to be the same age with pale freckled skin, fiery red hair, and brilliant emerald eyes. She also while thin was solidly built as well made even more impressive given her likely age. They both wore well-made hunting garb that seemed to have been put through a lot of use giving the impression they knew more than most in the crowd of what they were doing out there. But what caught Marco's eye was how they were relaxed while still observing everything around them; in fact he was fairly sure they had spotted them already. Buff Frog smiled in an impressed manner and spoke up.

"You know how to pick your warriors Marco. That there is Sir Lavabo, knight of the wash and the household, easily the most dangerous job in Mewni despite how it may sound. The one next to him is his squire Higgs, the only one to survive the trials of the wash in nearly 20 years and out of more than 150 applicants." Marco nodded in awe at them as Buff Frog continued. "She was actually a squire for a certain Sir Slicer before Lavabo but he threw her out after she complained he was taking her for granted. But enough of that let us join them." He stepped out of the woods calling out to the group who immediately came over. "Comrades comrades, I would like to introduce the guide, guardian, friend, and potential squire to Princess Star Butterfly, Marco Diaz Shadow Slayer!" Everyone nodded to Marco as if impressed and began speaking at once.

"Are you from another dimension?"

"Is it true there's no natural magic in your realm?"

"What combat training have you had?"

"Guys slow down slow down!" Marco waved his hands trying to get everyone to calm down. "There will plenty of time to learn more about each other after initial introductions." Several chuckles ran through the crowd as people took a few steps back.

"The boy speaks true; the hunt is where we will learn much about him." Sir Lavabo spoke with a Spanish accent strangely enough. "It is an honor to finally meet the one who aided the Shadow knights in defeating TWO rouge shadows to protect the princess." Marco shrugged playing it off a little.

"Just doing what I needed to help Star, she's my best friend." At that Higgs spoke up.

"Pretty close to Star are you? Expected for the princess's body guard." Everyone chuckled at that. "So how did you get elevated to your position aside from slaying the shadows?" Everyone leaned in close on that one with Marco speaking up this time trying to build himself up.

"Well after Star was sent away as a foreign exchange student I was picked to be her guide in my world. Of course not one day into her stay and a group of Forest Barbarians came to try and take her family wand led by Mavis Butterfly herself. I leapt in to help protect her and did so good a job that day I was appointed as her guardian to keep her safe." Buff Frog spoke up among the impressed looks and the curses on Mavis and the other Forest Barbarians.

"Well plenty of time for that later, for now we must prepare." He nodded and the groups split off with Lavabo and Higgs sticking close to Marco with Lavabo speaking up.

"Impressive set of credentials given what the King has said about you. You ready to back them up?" He raised an eyebrow as Marco replied.

"Hell yeah, I just hope Toffee joins us soon." Higgs chuckled at that as if it was a private joke and spoke up.

"Oh he will be joining us soon enough." Lavabo nudged Higgs motioning to Marco with Higgs nodding looking a little flustered. "Say um you wouldn't happen to be single now would you?" Marco blinked in shock at this and spoke up.

"Yes, I mean no. I mean… it's complicated right now." He hoped his flustering had not given anything away as the duo chuckled with Higgs responding.

"Alright keep your secrets. Nice to finally meet you." At Buff Frog's voice the duo moved over to the center of the clearing. When Marco went to join them however Buff Frog had him stop a little apart of the group. 'Interesting.' Marco thought to himself as there had been a few odd things today so far.

"Alright we are here to initiate Marco as a squire to the princess herself to become a knight of Mewni, everyone knows that da?" Everyone nodded with Marco pumping himself up. "Today we will be participating in a hunt, for the world's Most Dangerous Game." Everyone smiled carnivorously as they turned towards Marco who responded confused.

"Ok so what is this world's most dangerous ga…" At that point hints started adding up together at long last when the words 'Most Dangerous Game' were spoken. The current year in Language Arts his class had read a book by that same name… and if it was true he should be terrified. "Wait… you don't mean…" He pointed to himself with everyone nodding and Buff Frog responding.

"The Most Dangerous Game is one of our own. If you wish to join you must first survive to escape the woods." Everyone immediately pulled out Bows and Crossbows holding them at the ready. "And now for the sake of realism and because we are only too kind you will get a 10 minute head start. You may commence running." Marco looked around in fear as he backed up a few steps.

"Is this really nec…" He was cut off when a bolt zipped so close to his head it cut off some of his hair. "AHHHHHH AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Marco ran off panicked into the woods as Higgs reloaded her crossbow with everyone laughing as Buff Frog spoke again.

"Now remember people, we are not to purposefully kill Marco under orders of Toffee. Now get after him." Everyone looked a little confused as Buff Frog's face fell. "I mistook 10 minutes for 10 seconds again didn't I?" Everyone nodded as Buff Frog sat to the side with Higgs speaking up to Lavabo.

"Is that really the boy who destroyed two rouge shadows, looks more like a frightened goat fit to be roasted." Lavabo chuckled and spoke up.

"Ah he was caught completely off guard by what he assumed were friends, a harsh first lesson but necessary. Now we see how he adapts and overcomes." Higgs nodded and they both looked out after where Marco had run.

* * *

Toffee watched the screens as they caught Marco running for his life in a panicked state from being shot feeling both amusement from watching him run and nervousness that he was nearly killed. They could pop in at the last second and heal Marco from almost any injury if they needed to, thank Gods for portals, but if he died no magic was strong enough to bring him back. He shook his head looking around the large room where various Mewman nobles and Monster chiefs had gathered and were talking to each other. This was an informal gathering of various high ranking officials Moon did at times to try and smooth over still untrusting minded people. However, as per normal, they were gravitating into four groups; Monster chiefs, Mewman nobles, Butterfly family members, and those close to Moon. He looked over Moon's group, which he was a part of containing Rhombulus, Heckapoo, Lekmet, Omnitraxus Prime, River, Helsinki, and two other officials; Lily Forest of the Guardians of Mewni and her husband Lord Avarius of the Monster clan Avarius, the most influential and powerful clan of Monsters in all of Mewni. Moon's eyes locked with his clearly showing how she didn't like the separation going on to which Toffee shrugged… before an idea got into his head.

"River." River looked up at Toffee's unusually loud words that got the whole rooms attention. "How far do you think Marco will make it before he can't go any further for one reason or another." River blinked in confusion before speaking.

"Well… perhaps all the way up until you potentially have to step in. I mean he's good, I've seen him in action, but I'm fairly certain he can't beat you." Toffee smiled at that replying.

"Well I think he won't get past the blackened tree to be completely honest. He is a good warrior but he has some of Mewni's best after him." Moon saw the look in his eyes and whispered something to Lily Forest who blinked a second before replying over the murmur of officials.

"Really, how certain are you of that?" The groups were looking back and forth as Moon's group seemed to be catching on with Toffee replying.

"I say 3 shillings that he won't get past the blackened tree." At that Omnitraxus spoke up.

"Well 5 shillings says he's going to get to the cleft boulder. Trust me on this people, I see all." Lord Avarius spoke up at that one.

"Well I take things with a hearty dose of skepticism; 4 shillings says he won't even get past the first trench." The other groups were now chuckling and nudging each other only to be interrupted by Moon.

"Well 6 CROWNS says he will hold his ground around you long enough for you to back down Toffee." Everyone gasped at that fact Moon basically bet 60 shillings that the boy would hold off her own husband, one of the most dangerous entities in Mewni. A shilling was equal to a whole week's wages for a commoner worker and not even nobles threw that kind of money around lightly. Toffee's reply was swift and overly exaggerated for him at least.

"My dear, have you lost faith in me. Is my age really showing through?" Moon smiled at him replying softly.

"Oh I haven't lost faith in you, I just have more faith in that boy." She smiled snidly at him making Toffee shake his head before responding.

"My dear you can be a cruel mistress." At this Helsinki pulled out a silver tray and spoke up.

"Well put yur money were yr mouth is folks, cough em up." Everyone in Moon's group began putting in the money eagerly. At this one of the Monster chiefs spoke up.

"If Moon says he's good I believe her but Toffee is too strong for the boy to beat, 8 shillings says he works up to Toffee." Helsinki moved on over to him with one of the Mewman nobles speaking up.

"Well 7 shillings says he won't get past the swamp bridge, he's still just a boy."

"The cleft boulder makes sense, 3 shillings on that."

"Well 1 crown says he won't get past the first trench."

"4 shillings says he'll stop dead in the Willow Grove."

"Well I'm putting 6 shillings on the blackened tree."

As people began making bets the groups began to loosen up mostly to ask Moon why she had such faith in the boy. Toffee smiled to himself as the tense atmosphere was toned down enough for some people to relax. Lord Avarius spoke up to Toffee pulling in close.

"I must admit you have got a plan for everything your majesty." Toffee chuckled slightly before speaking.

"I wasn't even fully sure that would work to be honest. Speaking of which why do you have such low faith in him Trogdor?" Toffee raised his eyebrow with Lord Trogdor Avarius getting an annoyed look on his face.

"I told you not to call me by my name. And come on he's just a boy Toffee, that Shadow thing people have been talking about was mostly the Shadow knights doing. He may have experience in combat but he has not been hardened to the world just yet. If he wishes for my respect he must earn it first." Toffee nodded to the slim and well-dressed yellow eyed green bird man and replied.

"Makes sense. Heard about how Ludo's idea got through the Senate?" Trogdor nodded smiling.

"Looks like my brother has finally stopped asking Moon to fix the problem and figured out how to fix it himself." Toffee nodded as he glanced back over the groups.

"He's going to need to learn how to do that with the Senate regaining its power."


	70. The UnWild Hunt Pt 2

Marco ran like hell was behind him not even having enough breath to continue screaming. Thanks to the good physical shape he was in it wasn't the distance that stopped him but a gorge that seemed to come out of nowhere. If it hadn't been for his Ballet and Free Running training he would have fallen a good 15 feet onto rough terrain and likely twisted or broken something important. Fortunately he did a last minute pivot and grabbed onto a nearby sapling propelling him up onto a sturdy tree branch which he crouched on like a chimpanzee. He took slow deep breaths, a trick his Sensei had taught him when in a stressful situation to get more oxygen to the blood and calm yourself, as he gazed out across the ravine taking in the scenery. The terrain down below was full of loose rocks and logs that would make traversing it a nightmare for most people even without the stream down the center of it. On the other side the dirt cliff rose up 15 feet like it did on this side making climbing out of the area dangerous and difficult. Normally it wouldn't be a problem getting through it if he took it slowly but, checking his watch, he had about 3 minutes left before the hunters started coming after him.

'Why the FUCK is Toffee sending people to hunt me?!' Marco thought to himself trying to gather himself as best as possible. He decided to put the reason why on hold until he got across the gorge in front of him to get a head start against anyone coming after him. Using his free running skills he looked through the valley for the best possible path to get to the other side and up the cliff. He took particular note of areas to come down, areas to crawl back up, and potential areas to cross the river that would not slow his momentum. In free-running momentum was incredibly important as if you lost that your options were limited. Picking a good path he ran further out onto the tree limb he was on and grabbed onto the end letting his weight lower himself enough so he was only about three feet from the ground before letting go. He hit the ground running not losing any momentum at all and leapt lightly from rock to rock using his teenage lightweight body to his advantage disturbing only a few rocks slightly and only when he got past them.

Back at the tree he had noticed three close areas to cross; a fallen trunk, several stepping stones, and a small leaping point with convenient rocks on either side. He almost went for the trunk but remembered he was being hunted and traps had likely been set up so he avoided the most obvious option and instead went for the leap off point. That might be a trap as well but given his skill it would be less effective than if they had trapped the stepping stones. As it turns out he was right in suspecting it was trapped as when he leapt off his side the stone crumbled away into the stream. Thinking fast instead of landing on his feet he ducked and rolled hoping the excess momentum would keep him going even if the other side fell away. To make a long story short it worked and he kept running as the rock collapsed behind him. As he got to the cliff he avoided any roots dangling from the side as it might leave an obvious trace of where he was going. His grandfather had made Marco watch a show called ManTracker in the past and Marco had a surprising grasp of what left a trace when you went through an area. Instead he went for a sandy divot in the side of the cliff that might have been trapped but Marco was gambling he could get through it.

As he started up he kept to the sides to avoid shifting the sand as much as possible leaping from side to side as needed. After a brief struggle he managed to get to the top and noticed that there was a boulder trap at the top designed to activate and roll down if too much sand had been dislodged. Breathing a sigh of relief at his luck he stopped behind a tree and checked his watch. Exactly 10 minutes had passed which meant the hunters were finally on their way. 'Let the games begin.' Marco thought to himself as he took off his hoodie and tied the sleeves around his neck like a cloak before starting off into the woods.

* * *

"Well guess that's what happens when you underestimate someone." Trogdor shook his head as the group chuckled at him with Moon speaking up.

"He didn't even leave a trace or suffer any injury when doing so and did it all before they started after him; feeling so confident about your bet now?" Heckapoo glanced over as Moon smiled at her before replying.

"Oh come on most people can get by that, it's the swampy bridge that separates the men from the boys." River laughed at that speaking up.

"No kidding. I wish Bonibell could be here to participate." Toffee looked up from his group to see the three other groups intermingling.

Some were already sighing in disappointment, a solid 1/5th to his surprise, while others cheered Marco on. Even more to his surprise one of the Monster chiefs was 'consoling' a Mewman noble who had bet on Marco not making it far encouraging him with a lesson about not underestimating people. 'Well looks like things have lightened somewhat.' Toffee thought to himself. There were still three solid groups with people still keeping to them but the betting had loosened them somewhat. 'Now to see how far he actually gets.' Toffee smiled slightly as he turned back to the screen.

* * *

Marco moved through the trees avoiding underbrush and mud whenever possible to leave as little trace as possible as he moved. Coming to the top of an uprise he saw something through the trees ahead so decided to climb up a tree a little ways in order to see the surrounding area. Up ahead was what appeared to be piles of boulders all over the place forming a strange maze with the biggest boulder of them all being split in half leaving a small pathway through a nearly impassable area. Marco knew he would either have to risk the maze and any traps in there as well as ambushes or go the long way around which could, from his point of view, take hours and considering he didn't even have water that could be bad.

Steeling himself Marco slid down the tree leaping from tree to tree on the way down to cover some distance. He hadn't seen anyone coming but was sure they were coming in fast so he had to move. He leapt from the final tree to the ground and moved silently picking up a few twigs and sticking them into his hoodie to help conceal him just a little bit. He made it to the boulders without error and looked for a way into the maze finding one after a few minutes. Sneaking into the cool passageways between the boulders Marco moved quickly and quietly approaching every corner with caution instead of just blundering about. He was also constantly checking underfoot for trip wires or pits he could fall into as those were quite common in movies he had seen. As he started through he always kept going right, a trick he had heard of somewhere as if you kept going a single direction you could never get lost, although it would take a while.

As he moved through after a while he heard what sounded like hounds baying in the distance and knew the hunters were onto him. As he went to get moving faster a thought suddenly struck him, what if he could move over head by leaping from boulder to boulder. He was lightweight enough since he was young and it would be a quicker way to get through the maze as he could see where he was going. Yes he would be exposed to the sight of the hunters but they would be slow in movement and most of them would be unable to follow him on top. If he waited until they had entered the maze he could even avoid them detecting him until he had covered some distance. Smiling to himself Marco looked for a way out almost stepping onto a trip wire that connected to something. Marco stepped around it and had another clever idea reaching into something from his fanny pack he had brought along.

* * *

Buff Frog had to admit, Marco was actually pulling off a good hunt despite his self-proclaimed lack of experience. It had taken them quite some time to find his trail at the ravine and when they had they lost two hounds and three rather stupid knights to the trap he had avoided springing. He rolled his eyes again at the way they had scrabbled up the slope when he had told them to not disturb the sand and made laughing stocks of themselves. However Marco did not disguise his scent which meant hound tracking was rather simple though it did take a while given a lack of physical trace he was leaving behind. When they got to the cleft boulder Buff Frog had to admit he was not that surprised when Marco was nowhere to be seen and had gone directly into the maze. He spoke up getting everyone's attention as the knights gathered around.

"Alright, he has made it into the maze and intends to navigate it from what I can tell. Move through the maze carefully and do NOT loose the hounds until you see him; if we lose the hounds to traps or Marco fighting back tracking will be that much more difficult. And do not underestimate him comrades; we already lost three to a trap he kept from springing even though he took that route." Everyone nodded and moved into the maze cautiously except for a few he held back against the maze wall out of sight, including Lavabo and Higgs. "You lot, with me. We will be going up on top to get a better view and chase him from above. Most of us can't do that unfortunately so we will be the only ones who will be up there so use caution if he is flushed out on top." Everyone nodded with Higgs getting on Lavabo's shoulders looking over the edge to get a good view immediately calling down.

"Um, he's already on top."

"What?!" Buff Frog leapt up holding on tightly to the boulder's edge as he peeked over cautiously. Marco had in fact gone on top and was keeping an eye near the entrance as if he was afraid of people going on top. "Clever boy, waiting for us to enter the maze so he wouldn't be spotted easily." He turned back to the selected calling out. "Alright, over the top comrades." Everyone gave a cheer and the small party leapt up on top with Marco spotting them immediately.

Not even pausing in shock Marco moved like liquid lightning leaping from boulder to boulder as if he was part Frog Monster. Buff Frog actually stopped for a second to just gauge and admire how he was doing this before going after him. 'He may move well but he can NOT out jump a frog.' Buff frog thought to himself as he leapt from boulder to boulder with great ease out pacing the other hunters above and below. He knew it was risky going it alone but he kind of wanted to fight Marco one on one and see what he was made of. As Buff Frog was closing in however Marco immediately leapt off of the boulder into the maze taking Buff Frog by surprise. Moving up to the trench he looked down to see Marco was in fact not sprawled in pain even after a near 10 foot drop.

'What is this boy made of?' Buff Frog though impressed as he signaled the others on where Marco had dropped down. He then leapt across the gap and surveyed the area as best he could trying to pick out movement as that was easiest to spot in these empty and windless trenches. After a short while he did spot something fluttering in one area and smiled leaping in fast to catch Marco before he got anywhere. As he grabbed onto the piece of cloth Marco had tied to the trip wire he berated himself for his own foolishness as the trap was sprung trying him up in web of ropes. He hung there for a solid three minutes before several other hunters finally reached him and stared in shock for a second before chuckling. He rolled his eyes before replying.

"Embarrassed at my lack of caution yes, but I am above such emotions. Now then get me down so we can find that bo…" He was cut off when the sounds of a trap springing and whining hounds came from a certain direction of the maze. "Someone go see what is going on while you lot get me DOWN FROM HERE!" The knights moved to action quickly cutting Buff Frog down within a minute. As he got back up top Higgs moved up to give him a report.

"Sir, Marco appears to have baited one of the traps in the maze and it took out all but one of our remaining hounds as well as two more knights. No deaths fortunately but they won't be helping us anytime soon." Buff Frog rubbed his chin in thought for a second before speaking up to everyone within ear shot.

"Change of plans, we will get to the cleft itself and cut him off from going through. It is a cheap tactic yes but I am done underestimating that boy. Now get up here all of you." He gestured with the knights scrambling up on top with Buff Frog leading the way.

* * *

Marco moved out of the maze through the cleft in the boulder smiling to himself at a job well done. He had managed to plot a route through the remainder of the maze while leaping from boulder to boulder thanks to the quick thinking needed in free running. That traps he had laid were not good but might delay them for a minute or so and every minute counted. He finished moving through the cleft to the other side and took in the sight before him planning on what to do next.

In front of him was a wide open are that looked like it had been recently burned with a massive tree at the far end that had black bark and blue leaves in the distance, maybe a mile off at most. He also noticed a group of unicorns tied to a post not far off with 3 dogs that looked part eel guarding them and looking at him warily. He knew the instant he stepped out onto the field it would be a solid 10 minutes before he reached the other side and they could run him down on the unicorns with the greatest of ease. And if he did make it to the other side they would make up lost time and tracking would be easy for them given the soft ashy earth. He had one option but it was risky; of course this whole situation was risky when you really thought about it.

He moved towards the dogs in a crouch with one hand forward and one out to the side but still visible. The dogs growled at him threatening him making him stop momentarily before proceeding. When he got close the dogs moved forward slowly to sniff him with Marco keeping his cool and speaking softly to the dogs trying to radiate peace. He tried giving the same feeling he gave out when Star curled up on his lap and kneeled down keeping his eyes low so as not to make eye contact. After a few tense seconds of sniffing the dogs relaxed and went back to guarding allowing Marco to go up to the unicorns. He quickly untied the ropes binding them, knots were second nature to him after the Diaz family vacation to Mewni, and got on what he thought was the lead unicorn. He them smacked another unicorn on the rear making it run and did it with another before kicking his steed into moving. He had gone on multiple trail rides and had spent a few weeks at horse camp which fortunately translated to unicorns rather well.

The whole herd took off across the burnt field with Marco holding on to the unicorn tensely as he tried to stay on properly. They made it across the field within two minutes letting off a nice ash screen before Marco tried pulling his over and succeeded with a bit of effort. He stopped under the tree admiring for a second at just how big it was, easily twice as big as the other trees around it. As he went to get off however the guard dogs surrounded him and began barking eagerly. Marco hesitated for a second in mid swing which prompted the unicorn to shake him off throwing him to the ground in a heap and trotted off to join the others. As Marco tried to get up the dogs mobbed him with licks and barks prompting Marco to speak to them.

"Not now guys, I still have quite a ways to go right now." The dogs would not let up however prompting Marco to grab one in order to get up. "Seriously, I'd love to play with you but…" He then heard a long whistle from across the field that got the dogs attention. "And that's my time to go, see ya." He then took off running with the dogs whining as they looked back and forth between where Marco had gone and where the whistling was coming from.

* * *

"I will admit that Marco boy is clever and calm in these situations. I was actually hoping I would lose this bet." Toffee admitted this with pride in his voice as Omnitraxus spoke.

"*sigh* So much for my Space time knowledge offering a hand here." People chuckled all around with Moon speaking up again.

"Now you see why I invested so much into Marco people; he's not only tough but smart as well." Heckapoo scoffed at Moon's words speaking up.

"Perhaps, but he still has to get past the thing that guards the bridge, the whispering willow's grove, and deal with the king. That's a tall order even for what he's just accomplished." A groan of annoyance came from different parts of the room prompting Toffee to look up and gaze around.

Far more people it seems had not expected Marco to get halfway through then the other way around and were currently frustrated over everything. He also saw multiple people who were still in the game looking mighty nervous at how well Marco had pulled off his feats. Others however were wishing the boy well even though they had just lost and some were fairly confident that Marco would still lose in the upcoming challenges. He also notice several were talking with each other about different topics than the current test Marco was going through; in particular one conversation he overheard about the new changes being made by the 'Bill of Rights'.

"So you think this is the end of Mewni?" A crab like monster spoke to a blue haired Mewman noble who shrugged and replied.

"Just a… version of Mewni. I just hope the new Mewni has a place for people like ourselves." The crab chuckled and replied.

"Well I for one welcome the new changes as some have been needed for quite some time, even if it means I will lose something to gain something. Regardless, what do you think of that boy Marco?" The noble smiled at that and spoke eagerly.

"I for one welcome the new boy as the princess's squire and bodyguard. He seems well educated in his warrior arts already, and that is without proper schooling. You have no idea how hard it is to find recruits that good." The two chuckled as King Ponyhead flew behind them…

'Wait what?' Toffee attention shifted back to the overall crowd and he noticed several foreign dignitaries amongst the party goers who had not been invited. He also notice they were placing bets on Marco's progress with several people even stepping forward to try and place more money in order to change their bets. He shook his head in confusion at this and decided to not intervene. 'I think the relaxing atmosphere is working a little too well.'


	71. The UnWild Hunt Pt 3

Marco pushed back a branch only to have it slap him in the face as he pushed his way through the bog that had seemingly come out of nowhere. Unlike the last three challenges this one had been a hard 2 hour slog through mud and thick underbrush soaking him and exhausting him. And the fact that the clouds had blocked out the sun and he kept on hearing hounds real or imagined had only made things worse. Shaking his head in annoyance and exasperation he stopped beneath a tree on a 'dry' patch of ground and tried reorganizing himself with a type of meditation

"Inner peace, I must ha…" A drop of water hit him on the head. "…ve inner peace. Collect *drip* … your mind and thoughts into*drip*… the center so you can*drip*…" Marco growled in frustration and hit the tree right next to him dumping water onto him. "*FRUSTRATED SCREAMING* Inner peace, Inner peace, Inner peace!" He smacked his head against the tree getting him even more water.

He was snapped out of his frustration however when he heard the real sounds of hounds coming in his direction. He realized he had just given away his position to anyone within earshot and took off running in a random direction. He pushed through the random undergrowth as best he could until he noticed a strange development in the land that looked like a road of all things. 'Seriously how did I miss that all this time?' Marco thought to himself in frustration as he stepped out onto it. He was exposed but at the moment he just needed speed not stealth.

After a short distance he got to what looked to be a particularly watery area of the swamp, enough to warrant a bridge to be put up across it, but there were two issues with it. One, the bridge seemed to be in such bad shape that it looked like it could collapse if a moth landed on it. Two, there were several people already on the other side who had noticed him with Buff Frog, Higgs, and Lavabo included. 'Oh come on, they mouse trapped me. You know I should have seen that coming all things considered, I did take forever in getting this far.' The voices behind him prompted Marco to consider jumping into the water but stopped when he heard Buff Frog yell from across the bridge.

"Care to give it up hoodie boy, because I am fairly certain you do not want to deal with the one in the water." At that the water seemed to divot in an area like a massive creature was swimming underneath it with voices coming from behind him.

"He went this way. Over here."

Marco looked around desperate for a way out of this fix; either it was towards Buff Frog (not a good idea), wait to face the guys upcoming (and get the whole gang involved), jump in the water (shudder), or go back into the swamp to run circles once more until he collapsed. As the hunters closed in behind him Marco noticed something about the way the trees were placed and just how big they were, enough to give him a risky but fifth viable option. Steadying himself as best as possible he charged forward across the bridge with Buff Frog giving him a nod of respect as he readied for combat. Marco felt the bridge shift in parts as he aimed himself and leapt onto the side poles sticking up along the bridge. Everyone stopped and stared in confusion as Marco leapt from pole to pole for a second before leaping as far as he could go and grabbed a branch on a nearby tree nearly falling in the water. Skittering up it like a squirrel Marco got to a more secure position on the branch and took a quick breather as a random knight spoke up.

"Remind me to add that move to our roster." At this Higgs immediately ran across the bridge towards the branch yelling out.

"If he can do, I can do it better!" Lavabo immediately called out to her.

"No, get back you fool!" Higgs went to pull the same maneuver Marco did but slipped and fell off the rotted bridge ungracefully.

 **Jaws theme! ( watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4)**

"Shit, get me some rope now!" Buff Frog called out to his group with everyone rooting around in their packs with one person replying.

"Got some." Buff Frog's face went deadpan as he took in the hunter's 2 feet of rope before replying sarcastically.

"Great, we can fish while Higgs gets eaten. Get a longer piece you moron!" People on both sides of the bridge began desperately looking for pieces of rope as Higgs came up spitting water.

The water shifted as the same thing Marco had seen earlier came swimming in her direction. Lavabo immediately leapt out onto the bridge looking like he was going to leap into the water to try and help Higgs since he probably could not reach her from the bridge's surface. He was stopped not 15 feet out however as his weight was enough that one of his feet poked a hole in the wood catching and tripping him. As Higgs finally got a sense of her bearings she realized what situation she was in and immediately started swimming for shore. Unfortunately her all weather cloak and shoes were making her go at a snail's pace so she had to stop and shed them off. She didn't try going for the bridge as it was too mossy and moldy for her to get a good grip on the sides to climb up.

While the creature underwater appeared like a fast swimmer it seemed to be taking its time and simply cut her off from the shore so she had no escape. Marco knew he should get going but the thought of someone getting snapped up by… whatever it was down there made him pause. As he watched Marco also could see the creature was circling Higgs and submerged after coming close to her. Higgs immediately pulled out a knife and growled a desperate challenge before being pulled underwater… only to bob back up. 'It's… toying with her?' Marco thought in shock as the creature did it again with Higgs looking a bit frantic and those on shore trying to tie their rope scraps together to get her out. Marco then decided he did have to do something, anything to help her out; and got an idea. Higgs lashed out blindly with her knife not finding any purchase as the creature bellow in a manner that implied chuckling. It moved in to strike her again… only to be cut short when a vine snared itself around Higgs pulling her out of the water.

( **end music** )

Higgs accelerated 10 feet into the air bouncing around like a puppet as Marco secured the vine so she wouldn't fall. He then looked over at the crowd on both sides and yelled out.

"You're Welcome." He took off into the trees to get moving with Buff Frog yelling out.

"Thank you. Ok people, looks like we will have to cut him off at the whispering grove. You lot get over here so…" He was cut off however when the bridge was broken from beneath by… whatever it was that was in the water so it wasn't safe to cross, probably out of frustration. "… never mind. Get back to base, you lot with me." He got his group going with Lavabo finally pulling himself out of the bridge and Higgs climbing up the vine to the tree so she could join them.

* * *

"Well… did not see that coming." Heckapoo nodded in respect as the crowd of nobles collectively nodded in respect towards Marco.

The various groups had been talking with each other over the chase through the swamp with the groups slowly dissolving into a single mass of people. It had slowly turned into a rather pleasant atmosphere broken only by Marco finally reaching the bridge. It had only lasted about two minutes but everyone immediately came to truly respect Marco not just by his quick inventiveness but also going out of his way to save squire Higgs. However everyone could see that these actions were taking a toll on Marco as he was clearly tiring out from this which meant that, while they respected him and some liked him, they were losing faith that he could make it through till the end. Toffee shrugged at this knowing it would likely come to a confrontation, and it wouldn't just be a physical fight if he knew Marco.

* * *

Marco stepped out of the woods into what looked to be a grove of silvery willow trees that had branches that appeared to be made out of steel. As he looked around he heard a soft whispering emerge from seemingly within his own head that stirred up a memory of when he was last in Mewni. He then shuddered as he remembered the 'whispering willows' Star had shown him with the whispering taking on distinct voices. Marco shook his head trying to push forward and ignored the whispering inside of his head as best he could. As he pushed forward the whispering seemed to come and go like waves of an ocean lapping at his mind trying to persuade him to do strange things.

'Play with the dolls, they will guide you to Avalorn.'

'Dance with the stars of the green slime.'

'You taste good, try yourself out.'

He was so caught up with the whispering he didn't even notice the lasso coming at him until it was going over his head. Reacting fast Marco did the limbo under the lasso so it landed on him but didn't grab anything as it was pulled tight. He straightened back up knocking the lasso off of him as a horn blew in the direction the lasso had been thrown. Marco turned and got into a fighting stance as a two headed red Monster charged at him wielding an axe and targe. Marco swiveled around the Monster grabbing onto its shield and pulled it back so the Monster was caught into an arm lock of sorts. Marco then spun him around slamming him into one of the trees with the tree giving a muffled 'ow'. A Mewman charged out of the woods dropping the horn he just blew with a spear lowered to skewer Marco who nimbly dodged it and hit the guy in the nose sending him to knees crying.

"Oh come on, a broken nose makes you cry?!" Marco looked over to see Buff Frog step out of the woods followed by several other people. "Get back up and fight or I will give you something to cry about!" Marco finished off the guy on his knees with a kick and turned towards Buff Frog speaking up.

"Alright *huff*I'm done running from you guys*huff* let's just get this over with." Buff Frog nodded to Marco and spoke up.

"Nice to see you are done running. Let's do this then." The group charged led by Buff Frog as Marco lifted up the spear and charged back.

* * *

"Hmmm, how exactly is Marco going to take on… oh my." River took a step back from the screen in shock as the fight played out with Trogdor commenting.

"He just took out three guys in as many seconds with a spear bigger then he was!" A few solid thwacks on screen later and Lekmet spoke up.

"*I must say that boy will have a future in bull fighting given how he made a knight run into a tree hard enough to dent their helmet.*" After a squishy sound with a scream of pain Rhombulus spoke up impressed.

"I have never seen someone defeat a giraffe Monster with its own tongue." At this Helsinki was outright mock fighting while speaking to the screen.

"Yeah boi, beat that motherfucker wit another moth… *soild thwack* ohhhh." Her face fell as Omnitraxus Prime spoke up.

"Well looks like he's done… then again those stop drop and roll classes can pay… oh." Everyone gave out a small cheer at what had just happened with it turning into a groan resulting in a hard splat on screen with Lily speaking up.

"Oh come on, you just avoided him and went for a groin kick? Buff Frog can't just be toppled like a domi… *series of punches on screen* oh that was a nice trick." A few ripping and gagging noises and what sounded like a thump on screen got Heckapoo to speak up.

"Using the willow branches to make Buff Frog hallucinate, I wasn't even aware you could do that. Perhaps I should give this boy a visit and see if he is capable of owning his own pair of scissors." Toffee glanced down seeing a face of begrudging respect on Heckapoo as he spoke up.

"Leave him be for now Heckapoo, there's more about this boy we will need to tell you in private. As of now I think I should prepare for his eventual departure from the forest; if you will excuse me." Toffee nodded and stepped out as Moon called after him.

"Be sure to give him a victory if you think he deserves it even if you aren't down hard; I can testify to how difficult it is to faze you." Toffee nodded and spoke up as the other nobles got excited.

"Don't worry, I know when someone has proven their worth."

* * *

Marco looked around the battlefield exhausted but victorious as he took in his carnage. A giraffe Monster had its tongue tied around its throat, one stocky and unconscious female Mewman's helmet was dented to the point of not coming off, the other knights were sprawled around after his beat down, and Buff Frog was staring up at the sky as he chewed on some of the willow leaves. He had gotten particularly lucky with Buff Frog because if he had to continue fighting hand to hand he knew he would have lost. His triumph was cut short when he realized two knights were missing.

"You have come far Marco Shadow Slayer, but no further." He turned at Lavabo's voice to see him and Higgs ready to beat him down. "No we see what you are truly capable of." Marco got into a fighting stance with grim determination as he stared them down.

He knew he wasn't going to last long against these two as Buff Frog had said they were the best of the bunch. Even if he was not exhausted from the several hour long hunt his odds were not that good at going head to head with them. He also had a feeling he wasn't going to get lucky like with Buff…

"*hounds barking*" All three of them looked in shock as the hounds Marco had gotten in good with leapt out of the brush and onto Lavabo bringing him down in a furry pile.

After staring at him for a second Marco and Higgs shrugged at each other and squared off. As they circled each other for a second Marco threw aside his spear, now badly damaged and not too useful, and took a fighting stance. Higgs stared at him a second before nodding in respect and threw her weapon aside taking an unarmed stance as well before moving into striking range. As she threw a few quick punches and kicks Marco blocked or dodged them all with a smile growing on his face. When it came to most weaponry Higgs could probably wipe the floor with him in his best condition; but he could tell that even in his current condition his unarmed skills were far beyond hers. As she struck again this time throwing some substantial force behind it Marco dodged under it and moved in close to Higgs. As she attempted to move back he placed one of his legs around hers and got into her center of gravity slamming an open palm punch into her face. As Higgs flailed he twisted her leg out from underneath her, grabbed her arm, and flipped her onto her front pinning her to the ground with one arm behind her back. Unsurprisingly Higgs struggled and cursed for a while until Lavabo whistled to get their attention.

"Alright, I can see you actually have some bite to back up the bark, quite literately." He appeared to be limping after having been severely mauled by the hounds, who now laid in a pile nearby badly beaten as well. "If you could take down Higgs that quickly in your current condition, and with me being in my own, I would have to give this victory to you. I surrender with honor." He bows to Marco with Higgs spluttering as she answered.

"WHAT! You're just going to surrender to this boy who only got his chance because he's the princess's boyfriend!?" Marco responded quickly.

"I already told you, she's not my girlfriend and even if she was Toffee wouldn't make an exception like that for me." Lavabo sat down and watched the argument between the two as Higgs replied.

"Oh come on, I am just as skilled as you if not more so and the King and Queen never even gave me more than a sideways glance until I passed the trial of the wash. In fact the only reason you beat me was because you were better at unarmed combat then I was." Marco replied his frustration all too evident now.

"You were the one who threw your weapon aside when I threw mine down!" Lavabo spoke up at that one.

"He does have a point; you were just trying to show him up after he saved you weren't you?" Higgs gritted her teeth in frustration before replying.

"With all due respect, throwing aside my weapon when he had none was the 'honorable' thing to do given what you taught me." Lavabo rolled his eyes as Marco's frustration got to the point where he just blurted out his next line.

"I don't even know the real reason why Toffee is doing this to me!" Higgs immediately stopped struggling with Lavabo looking up in interest at this. "I never asked to be Star's squire, I never asked to be hunted like a wild animal, why is Toffee doing this to me after all I've done for Star!?" Marco was almost in tears as Lavabo got up and walked over to them patting Marco's head before speaking.

"Have faith in the king just as he had faith in you to take care of his daughter. He always has his reasons." Marco sighed calming down slightly as he nodded. "Now, can you let Higgs back up so you can get going?" Marco blinked realized he was still pining Higgs to the ground in a somewhat suggestive manner at this point.

"Oh right, sorry." Marco got up backing away as Higgs got up working her arm for a second before speaking.

"Sir Lavabo is right, his majesty does have his reasons you know." The trio stared at each other for a second before Lavabo and Higgs nodded at Marco and went to collect the fallen hunters.

'Welp, let's finish this then.' Marco thought to himself as walked off to what he could tell was the edge of the forest.

* * *

"Now that's a worthy boy, raise your horns to this one!" One of the nobles called out in the gathering area with everyone raising a drink of some sort to Marco. "To the new squire of the princess and to her future knight!" Everyone drank deeply with Moon doing the same.

'He has impressed them all to a rather impressive degree; I must say I'm impressed as well.' Moon thought to herself as she looked back at the screen. Marco hadn't talked that much about his combat abilities, in fact downplaying them, but it was clear he was a vicious fighter from what she saw. And what's more he could still keep going after all he had to do for the last few hours. She saw him approach the edge of the woods with relief in his eyes over what he assumed was the end of the line as Moon thought to herself. 'My girl, you have far better taste in men then you could ever have imagined.' She glanced over at the officials who were now eagerly socializing over random topics at this point like the tension from earlier had never existed. 'Perhaps more than I could have ever imagined.'

* * *

"Hello Marco." Marco stopped in his tracks at Toffee's voice freezing in a comical pose.

He would have been relieved to hear Toffee but the tone of his voice and what had happened the last few hours made Marco pause and worry. He turned his head slowly to look at Toffee and saw that Toffee was casually leaning against a tree and smiling calmly at Marco. What confirmed Marco's worry was the fact that he was wearing black chain mail armor with what looked like skulls as shoulder plate guards despite the fact he didn't have a helmet on. He also had a sickle shaped sword sitting on a shoulder casually with strange waving silvery metal that had strange runes chiseled into it as well as a blackened handle seemingly made from bone with an amethyst pommel surrounded by a silver mesh designed to look like antlers. Marco unfroze and waved to Toffee speaking nervously.

"Oh hi Toffee, *he he* how's it going?" Toffee stood up from his leaning pose and began walking towards Marco.

"If I understand your phrase correctly then my answer is perfectly fine Marco." His movement changed to moving in between Marco and the edge of the wood. "I must say you have exceeded so many expectations that me and others have had of you." Marco chuckled nervously before replying.

"Well that's great, if you don't mind I would like to get out of these woods so I can…" Marco went to take a step but stopped as Toffee imposed himself between Marco and the edge of the wood.

"Well well well, a might bit eager to get going are we?" Marco nodded dumbly as Toffee's smile broadened. "Well that's a shame because I have something planned to finish things up. That is, if what it is you need to get to is not urgent." Marco spoke up in a squeak.

"Actually it is." Toffee chuckled at that and mixed Marco with a predatory stare.

"Well then, perhaps we should finish this off quickly." Toffee then leapt forward with a burst of speed that made it look more like he was stretching than running and body-slammed Marco.

Marco flew through the air and hit a tree collapsing to the ground with Toffee circling him shaking his head slightly as if disappointed. Marco felt afraid and tired but he was also frustrated after having to go through this whole hunt with him not even fully knowing why. Growling he did a sitting leap with a roundhouse kick that would have sent most people below body builder size reeling. Toffee however just caught Marco's foot with one hand and flipped Marco slamming him into the ground. As Marco groaned in pain Toffee readjusted his grip to Marco's ankle and flipped him into the air slamming him to the ground again. And again. And again. And again. And again doing so for several times before letting Marco go and circling him some more clucking his tongue in a mixture of amusement and disappointment. Marco stood up shakily getting his bearings and getting into a fighting stance backing away from Toffee slightly. Toffee chuckled and spoke up.

"Learning I see, you catch on quick." Marco spoke up at this frustration evident all about him.

"Why are you doing this?! What point does it serve to chase me around the woods and beat me senseless?!" Toffee chuckled again and replied.

"Looking for the logic behind everything instead of just cursing me in anger and striking blindly, you have a clear head on your shoulders." Toffee moved in fast attempting a body slam with Marco dodging his attack and shooting a fist at his solar plexus. Toffee caught it however and gave Marco a wry smile before spinning him away like a top. "I like that; it's very refreshing to meet another fighter who is not a dumb piece of meat." Marco kept up his stance backing away from Toffee. "Keeping your distance too figure out how I fight and not charging in after the beating you received; you get a good grade from me." Toffee moved in making as if to swing his sickle at Marco but instead delivering Marco an uppercut with his free hand.

Marco however dodged both of the blows and delivered a flurry of blows at Toffee with his fists and feet. Toffee deflected many of them with his sickle blade, the flat of it of course, and let his armor deflect the rest. He took a step back from Marco and swung his sickle low knowing Marco would leap over it. Marco did and threw a kick at Toffee's head which he caught like he did the first kick. Marco took him off guard however by bringing his other foot down on Toffee's head making Toffee let go of Marco. Marco then acted quickly and went to stamp on Toffee's other hand to disarm him but Toffee moved like air and leapt back 10 feet in less than a second. As Marco recovered Toffee moved forward just as quickly again and delivered and elbow to Marco solar plexus throwing Marco back and making him gasp for air. Toffee circled Marco some more smiling as if delighted with him while speaking.

"Well most impressive, you are still standing after having dealt with me this far. Most can't boast of such a feat." Marco growled and retorted at Toffee.

"Why, cause everyone is too afraid of hitting their king?" Toffee genuinely laughed at that before replying, taking Marco off guard.

"Not all of them, yes a few but not many, regardless it is actually because after Moon I am deemed one of the most dangerous entities in all of Mewni. That was confirmed when Moon and I killed a good 1,000 men in one day." Marco blinked in shock as tried to figure out whether Toffee was boasting or not as he didn't appear to be the boasting type.

"Wait… when did this occur? Was that a battle during The War of Moonlight Shadow?" Toffee chuckled again at Marco's words before replying.

"Oh that conflict was well over when that occurred. In fact I do believe it was our honeymoon that the event occurred on." Marco shuddered at that and spoke up.

"Are… you going to kill me? I thought you liked me?" Toffee smiled in a predatory fashion at Marco. "And wouldn't Star put up a complaint at that." Toffee's smile did not falter as he replied.

"Oh Star is currently… distracted at the moment."

* * *

"Yeah gurl get your party ooooon!" Ponyhead and Star danced in the Bounce Lounge with the strobe lights going strong. "Cool of your parents getting us these all day VIP passes. Say where is the earthturd at?" Star spoke up at this shrugging.

"I don't know, just that he's bonding with my dad. He and Marco are getting along so well…"

* * *

Marco slammed against another tree falling to the ground on his knees groaning in pain. Toffee stepped up to being just out of Marco's reach twirling his blade around casually as he stared at Marco. Marco looked up at Toffee feeling a sense of betrayal; this was the man he respected above even his own dad and Sensei who was tossing him around like a rag doll without any reason behind it. He had lied to Marco and his daughter about what was happening here and was putting Marco's life on the line for reasons he was not explaining. At this point Marco's faith in Toffee gave out and he spoke up.

"Fine, you win." Toffee double took in shock as his smile fell away. "If you're not going to tell me why you're doing this then why should I fight back. Why should I keep on fighting when it's clear I'm just a toy to you?" Toffee stared at Marco second in shock before replying.

"You are… refusing to defend yourself?" Marco fixed Toffee's gaze with a glare and spoke.

"If you didn't like me dating Star you could have just said something." Toffee gaze remained shocked for a second before it turned angry with him speaking up.

"You refuse to continue when you are so close to the end." Toffee set his blade aside and walked up to Marco. "You are just lying down and giving up? What kind of a warrior are you? Do you know how much Star sacrificed for you when she destroyed her wand? Do you know what risk we are taking by letting your two be together?" He picked Marco up by the collar yanking him off the ground so his eyes were level with Toffee. "I thought the man who was protecting my precious little MonStar was a TigerWolf with vicious claws and teeth and a will to back it up, not a Grumpkin who looks scary but runs at the drop of a feather. What kind of boy are you to degenerate after showing so much promise?! Is my daughter really just a passing fancy for you; just to crow about dating a princess to the other boys…"

"SHUTUP!" Marco lashed a fist out at Toffee's chest feeling it sink through the chainmail somehow.

Time seemed to stand still as the two realized just what had happened with Toffee falling backwards landing on the ground in a ragdoll manner. Marco sat down and stared at the unmoving Toffee in shock before moving up close enough to see he had punched Toffee directly through the heart. Marco looked around in worry as he had just killed the king to the kingdom he was sitting in right now. As the panic really set in he hugged himself close and shuddered at what he would have to tell Moon and Star… only to be interrupted by laughing from Toffee. Marco looked over in shock as Toffee sat up gasping a little after the laugh rubbing his now healed chest before speaking.

"My word, I have not been dealt a fatal blow like that in years; well down Marco." Marco just stared in shock as he tried to reply.

"You… but it… why it... how could…" Toffee laughed again before replying.

"Marco, where do you think Star got her healing capabilities from?" Marco blinked before snapping his finger in an 'of course' fashion. "By the way, you just won in a fight against me; now Moonpie will be rubbing this victory of yours in my face for months." He rolled his eyes as Marco just stared in shock. "Now then, before we leave for refreshments explanations are in order on my part." Toffee sat cross-legged and focused Marco in a serious gaze. "Marco, by dating my daughter you are stepping into a very dangerous game with my approval being the least of your concerns if word of your relationship gets out. There are many nobles who will be scrutinizing any man who courts my daughter and you will need to earn their approval and respect if you wish to continue your relationship. And what's more, many nobles wish to marry their sons to my daughter for political gain; likely using her as a puppet." He spat to the side at that. "And what's more if they catch wind of you two before you have enough support to defend yourself they will fall on you in an attempt to remove this 'peasant boy' from another dimension." Marco blinked in confusion as he replied.

"Wait, people will want me dead just for with Star as a boyfriend?" Toffee nodded at him.

"This is a time of great upheaval in Mewni Marco and conflict among people is only escalating unfortunately. This is why I put you through this test, to see what you were already capable of so I could help train you better for the future. Of course there will be multiple other tests to find out your other capabilities but they will be less… dramatic then this one." Marco nodded in dull shock as the information settled in his head.

"So wait, you do like me and don't want to kill me?" Toffee smiled at that and replied.

"Of course I like you, you're the one of the best boys I have ever met to be completely honest. Also I would never take someone like you out of my daughter's life; you make her shine like her namesake star. I just… needed you to think I was going to kill you to get you to give everything you got; sorry about that by the way but it was necessary." Marco smiled in content as Toffee smiled in return. "Now let's get going, there are several people I would like you to meet." Marco got up with Toffee standing as well. "Oh, and one more thing. You know how sensitive and tender Star can be at times right?" Marco nodded. "Well if you strain or Gods forbid break her heart… let's just say these last few hours will be a pleasant dream compared to what I'm going to do to you." Marco sweated slightly and chuckled nervously as Toffee waved him off. "Now get out of the forest, Butler is waiting for you." Marco stumbled for a second before running off with Toffee chuckling.

"Told you he would win." Toffee turned and looked behind him to see Moon standing there looking as beautiful as she always did smiling coyly. "And what was with you needling Marco about breaking Star's heart, hasn't the boy been through enough?" Toffee shrugged and replied.

"He has matured quite a bit but his past actions still leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Best to put the fear of the Gods into that boy just in case I need a plan Z." Moon chuckled and strode up to him.

"Well I think Marco needs some time to cool off, so I say we should 'heat things up'. What do you say?" Toffee smiled as she encircled her arms around his waist and replied.

"As my queen demands. Besides, I like heat." The two immediately began French-kissing passionately with Marco seeing this as he glanced over his shoulder speaking to himself.

"That is sweet, gross, and disturbing at the exact same time. Definitely did not want to see that."

 **WH: Well, did you get Janna? *everyone shakes their heads no* Didn't think so. Well let's go back and see how long she'll stay out here until she realizes we aren't after her anymore. *Turns to the audience as people leave* And now that the hunt is done it's time for Marco to fully grasp the implications of what is about to happen in his life and push his limits even further by... getting his 'Blackbelt'? A bold strategy let's see how it plays out.**


	72. Black Belt Pt 1

***A gong rings out over a mist clad mountain. On top of the mountain is a grove of cherry trees with the WH standing on one leg in a pose of meditaion.***

 **WH: Let the essence of the world around you flow, get not in its path but flow with it and let its strength become your own. *A bug walks up to his leg and pushes him over* Let the- wa whoa, WHOA! *gets up brushing himself off* Well that didn't work as well as I thought it would. Take number 24. Enjoy the episode folks while I deal with this BUG! *Attempts to step on it with the bug engaging me in a martial art style battle.***

Marco crawled up the tunnel following the green light panting with the effort until he finally breached the exit, again wondering how he had gotten here. He looked around really quickly taking in what appeared to be a ruined version of his school with an eerie green light encasing it. He saw what looked like Star in one corner chewing on something rubbery with her eyes a cat-pupiled red-veined yellow indicating she was in ptsd fight or flight mode. She glanced up at him hissing in fear and ran through a wall leaving a hole which Marco quickly moved towards calling for her to stop. As he reached the hole however it suddenly just wasn't there and most of the school had disappeared as well leaving only his locker. Marco blinked in confusion for a second and suddenly panicked as he didn't remember his combo even though he thought he had it memorized by heart. He tried working the lock for a second only for it to shudder and fall to pieces on its own. Marco took a step back in fear as the locker opened spilling out a large pile of purple, black, and green hearts like Star produced when she went through Mewberty. He looked back in double taking at what he saw speaking up.

"It's… it's me. And I'm… wearing a suit?" The Marco in the locker was in fact wearing a suit and looking to be asleep standing straight up. "Wait how is that scary?" The figure then opened its eyes showing they were the same color as the tentacle arm's with its skin suddenly going the purplish slimy color the arm had. "Gahhh, that's how you make it scary." It then smiled showing needle-like teeth and spoke up.

"We could have been so great together Marco. What plans do you have now to survive in the world you're embarking on without me?" Marco blinked in confusion as red light bathed down on them making him look up as a voice called down to him.

"We're moving on with our lives Marco, are you?" Marco took in Jackie's words as the other kids from school, including his friends, floated up into the air holding onto balloons and snickering at him in pity. They were also floating up to what seemed to be a large blood red moon that was bathing him in its light.

"But my balloon isn't ready yet." Marco looked at the red balloon he suddenly was holding with it floating limply in the air. "I just need more time." He sighed in sadness before a shadow covered his face prompting him to look up and smile. "My Black Belt! Yes do you know how long I've waited for you?" He reached out to the black belt which nimbly avoided his grasp and began slithering up to the moon. "Hey wait, come back!" Marco reached out to it as clucks of annoyance came from the side with a voice following it.

"My dear Marco, and you had such potential." He looked over to see Moon and Toffee looking at him with disappointment all over their faces as Toffee continued. "Can't even accomplish your own childhood goals when it was so easy for you to do so. Perhaps we need someone else to take care of Star don't you think so dear?" Toffee turned towards Moon who nodded looking at Marco sadly.

"It's a shame really; you were such a nice boy." Marco began trying to reach out to them as they began walking away screaming to them.

"No wait, I just need some time. I'm only 14 years old and not even an adult yet; just give me some ti…" He was suddenly knocked down to the side and straddled by a ptsd fueled Star who shrieked at him before screaming.

"Wake up Marco, don't you see it's not right. Wake up, wake up now Marco; just WAKE UP ALREADY!"

* * *

Marco opened his eyes and screamed in a pansy like manner as he flailed with his arms fending off the attacker that had him pinned. As he flailed something caught his arms and pinned him down with Iron like strength. As he got ready to break those grips he suddenly noticed Star was over him again but her eyes were a worried blueish-green as she seemed to be border line panicking. He then realized it had all been a dream and he was where he was supposed to be, in Star's bed acting as her comfort and heat pillow. As he calmed down from his nightmare Star let go him and sat up speaking to him soothingly.

"Wow, you must have had a really bad one given the way you were thrashing and mumbling in your sleep…" Star was stopped however when Marco grabbed her in a tight hug and began sobbing with Star hugging him back in reflex.

"I'm just 14 Star, I can be as good as I need to be; just give me some time please and I'll show your parents they don't need to find someone else! Please I'll try harder, I promise." Star's eyes went back to normal as she rubbed Marco's back and hair speaking to him soothingly.

"It's ok, I'm not going anywhere. Just let it all out Marco because I'll be here for you, always." Star smiled and Marco cried on her shoulder for several minutes before they pulled apart with their eyes locking. "Do you want to talk about the nightmare or is it too bad to remember?" Marco sighed and told Star what he remembered of the dream making Star frown slightly. "Is dad being too hard on you again? I need to get mom to stop that guy before he…" Marco held his hand up speaking quickly.

"No! I mean your dad is doing it for the right reasons Star, I just need time to get myself going." He then looked down speaking meekly. "And the support needed to keep going." Marco heard a switch be turned off and looked up when Star spoke with a thick Mewman accent to her voice.

"Marco, no need to push too hard; come here." Star pulled him into another hug pushing his head into her chest and began singing to him.

 **Pan's Labyrinth Lullaby ( watch?v=19bBGxf5k6k) (0:05)**

As she did so she rubbed his back in a soothing manner and rubbed his hair smelling it deeply before kissing him on the forehead. Marco felt a nice softness as his face went into Star's chest that normally would have him blushing and backing away while apologizing, but now it just felt comforting. He hugged Star back burying his face in her chest smiling and letting out a breath he did not know he was holding in. In the process her beautiful voice sang him into a calmed state despite the fact he only understood one word in three, Mewni was a surprisingly hard language to learn. As they stayed in this position Marco felt himself drift off to sleep again but this time it was a deep dreamless sleep that only provided rejuvenation and comfort.

 **(end music)**

* * *

In his room Marco moved in all of his familiar moves as he practiced his fighting style taught by his Sensei at the dojo. As he practiced however he switched up the style to his own personal type that incorporated Ballet and various moves he had picked up ever since he met Star. As he completed this elaborate 'dance of death' as he called it Star spoke up from the doorway.

"Hey Marco, whatcha doing in your karate robes?" Marco turned towards Star seeing she was wearing a light blue sleeveless top-skirt with blue leggings and puffy blue boots with a small purple cloud purse of sorts. He smiled as he answered her question.

"Star, today is the day I am going to get my Black Belt and finish my goal of becoming a ninja once and for all." Star blinked in concern at his heroic pose and spoke up.

"But you said multiple times it was going to be a while before you were ready for this? Are you… rushing things? Does it have something to do with last night's nightmare?" Marco sighed and turned to Star looking at her seriously before speaking.

"Yes… maybe I am. But after the hunt your dad and I had together I think it's time I attempted this final trail to see if I am ready for this honor." Star's concerned look turned into suspicion. "Well partially it may have to do with me being worried about the future, but the thing is Star I need to focus on my future in life. And the best way to get started doing that is to finish up my training so I can focus on other goals." Star stepped forward putting her hands on his shoulders and speaking softly.

"Marco, you don't need to do this for me just because you're worried about never being good enough." Marco put his hands around Star's waist and spoke.

"I'm not doing this just for you; I'm doing this for me as well. If I'm going to get anywhere in life I need to get started now and the best to do that is finish one of my goals." One of Star's hands shifted up to his cheek rubbing it softly as she replied.

"Ok Marco, just remember to not push yourself too hard; I'm always gonna be there for you." Star leaned in pulling Marco in and kissed him softly bringing on that familiar warm comforting feeling that occurred whenever they kissed. As they parted Star's eyes had gone their beautiful purplish-green that Marco loved so much. "He he, it almost feels like the princess is saying good bye to her knight as he embarks on a perilous quest for the king." Marco chuckled and replied.

"Yeah, it is a little bit like that." They smiled at each other for a second before Marco pulled away and got going. "See you later Star." He was stopped however when Star called out.

"Wait." She pulled out a piece of fabric. "Take this for good luck, the 'princess's blessing' as many call it." Marco took the cloth and smiled as he replied.

"Man all the way with the cliché; thank you StaAAAAAH!" He dropped the piece of clothing with Star blinking in concern.

"What's wrong?" Marco gibbered a second before responding.

"I thought you were giving me a handkerchief, that's a… a…" He pointed to the panty lying on the floor unable to bring himself to say it as Star replied.

"But I don't have handkerchiefs, and Janna said boys loved those things."

'Of course she said that.' Marco thought to himself as he rolled his eyes. He noticed Star looking at him in a worried manner before he sighed and decided to just go with it if Star wasn't embarrassed.

"Well… if you are ok with it… I'll… take the 'blessing'." Marco picked up the panty gingerly with Star seemingly sighing in relief. "I should get going, see you later." He tucked the panty away with Star waving him off.

"Fair thee well Marco." She stood there for a second after he had gone before talking to herself. "Now, time to get started on _Shogun 2 Total War_ , supposedly the best of the Total War games." She ripped off her clothes and ran to her room in only her white underwear.

* * *

Marco stepped into the dojo seeing Sensei meditating in a corner of the room at a small shrine that had been built into the corner. Marco walked up with the smell of incense thick on the air and waited for Sensei to face him knowing Sensei had sensed him coming in. After a few minutes waiting Sensei rose up silently and with grace turned towards Marco speaking up.

"Bow to your Sensei." Marco bowed and righted himself. "Today is not a class day Diaz or the time of the day for free sparing, why have you come?" Marco spoke calmly fixing Sensei with his gaze.

"I think it is time I take the trial and get my black belt." At those words Sensei laughed out loud and replied with humor in his voice.

"Oh Diaz you jest so. You are not ready, come back in several years when you have truly deemed yourself worthy of the honor of the black belt." Sensei went to turn around but Marco spoke up at that.

"No I am ready. Jeremy Birnbaum has one already and I know I have done far more than he ever has. It IS time for me Sensei, and I will not leave until I have it." Sensei paused before turning back to Marco.

"Diaz, you do realize once you've started there is no going back right?" Marco nodded and replied.

"I can't turn away from this; it is time for me to move forward." Sensei nodded with a strange mixture of respect and worry in his eyes before they hardened and he spoke up again.

"Alright then we start NOW!" Sensei flipped through the air putting his foot directly in front of Marco's face "Clip the toenail!" He wiggled his toes and gave Marco a nail clipper to clip it. Marco stared at it a second before doing so with it being flung into his eye and Marco scrabbling desperately to get it out. "Plunge the toilet!" Marco plunged the toilet with water sloshing out on occasion with some of it getting in his eyes. "Take the deductions." Marco stood on one foot on top of a small pole as he worked receipts through an old style typer. As he did this a fly landed in his eye almost making Diaz fall until he was able to push it out. "Is your moment of failure already at hand Diaz?" Marco was rubbing his eyes at the abuse they had been put through and growled in determination shaking his head no.

 **SN: One parody of a martial arts training montage later.**

"That's right Mr. Diaz, use the squeegee." Marco was standing atop a ladder as he squeegeed windows at his sensei's house. "Remember preparation is key and never just fall into a pattern as doing so will lead to sloth both physically and spiritually. You must always be ready for a new challenge to rise up in life at any moment." At that a car horn was honked prompting Marco to look around and see a car had pulled up in front of Sensei's house with a small woman coming out and speaking up.

"Oh hello dear." As he took her in Sensei seemed to get somewhat nervous as he spoke up.

"Oh hello mom, nice to see you again." Marco blinked in confusion as the 'mom' spoke up again.

"Oh so nice to see you getting to those windows with your busy schedule. And you have a little friend helping you to." She smiled at Marco who had come down off the ladder in confusion. "I'm gonna fix you a nice snack." She walked into the house with Marco speaking up suspicious.

"Your mom seems nice, does she come over frequently?" Sensei waved his hands at Marco.

"Yes but not too frequently. She does have her own home you know." Marco got a suspicious look on his face and spoke up again.

"Interesting that you make that distinction…" He was interrupted by Sensei's mom bringing out a snack for the two and speaking up.

"Here you go boys, if you need me I'll be in my room taking my mid-day nap." She walked back into the house with Marco munching and looking at Sensei suspiciously.

"Ok, I'm gonna need a little explanation." Sensei looked around nervously and sighed before speaking up.

"Come with me Diaz."

* * *

"Wait, is this your room, looks a lot like mine." Marco looked around Sensei's room with Sensei sighing.

"Marco, I have confessions to make. First off yes these things I have been making you do were supposed to be tests of your devotion but you have more than payed your due there. In truth I was making you do my chores after a while." Marco blinked in shock speaking up.

"Wait, why?" Sensei got teary eyed before breaking down in front of him.

"Because of my greatest shame Diaz, I'm only a red belt myself!" Marco's jaws dropped as Sensei elaborated. "I didn't know what I should do with my life so I rented a dojo and got instructional tapes teaching me what I needed to do to learn each belt." He pulled out a small case from under his bed showing Marco a large set of tapes of all the colors and stripes Marco had earned over the years. "After I completed a tape the grand master of the strip mall dojo society would come and initiate me to that level. It was going pretty well for the most part until I hit the final cassette." Marco blinked in confusion speaking up.

"Wait, why'd you stop at the very end?" Sensei pointed behind him.

"Because the cassette got stuck in the machine, now it just holds up the short leg of my computer table." Marco blinked in confusion speaking up.

"Wait, why didn't you just get it unstuck?" Sensei sighed before replying.

"I tried getting it out but the VHS instruction for that got stuck in another machine." Marco spoke up at that.

"Wait, then how did Jeremy get his black belt?" Sensei sobbed for a second before replying.

"Because he got another Sensei to come in and give him the black belt behind my back." He turned towards Marco with sadness and shame all over his face. "What kind of Sensei can't even work a VCR?" Marco inhaled deeply and stood up speaking to Sensei calmly.

"No problem, all we have to do is find it online." He pulled out his phone and did a quick search before his face fell. "Except we can't, it seems this is one of the rarest cassette tapes in existence." Marco inhaled and exhaled again putting his phone away. "Looks like we will have to find it IRL." Sensei looked at Marco in concern and spoke up.

"Uh uh, I owe those guys way to much in back taxes." Marco shook his head and turned to face Sensei.

"No not IRS, IRL. That means in real life from areas like thrift stores." Sensei nodded and inhaled in a manner similar to meditation before exhaling and speaking up.

"Alright then Diaz, let's do this quest together then. But if we are getting anywhere we are gonna need wheels."

* * *

The garage door opened to Sensei (his mother's) house with Sensei riding out on a bicycle with Marco hanging onto the back with both of them cheering. A dog tried following them from the house but they quickly lost it as they zipped downtown to look for the tape. Marco didn't waste any time and directed Sensei to a second hand store that might have what they were looking for. As they got off looking around Sensei spoke up.

"Are you sure this is a good place Marco?" Marco opened the door and stepped in shrugging and speaking.

"We need to search high and low in every single corner we can find to get that tape at this rate. Don't just give up because the going is gonna get tough." Sensei looked around the store as Marco made his way to the VHS section speaking up.

"Looks like a garage sale." Marco shrugged and kneeled down picking through the tapes looking through them. "Say you found it yet?" Marco looked up dead pan and spoke.

"You know it would go a lot faster if you joined me to look." Sensei sighed and nodded stooping down to take a look. "Now be careful as it's cover might have been compromised and it won't look like what we are looking for." Sensei nodded while groaning slightly as he looked through tapes speaking up after a few minutes.

"Marco it's useless, most of these tapes are just Disney films and direct to movie sequels." Marco stood up speaking to Sensei.

"We can't just give up like this, we need to keep looking."

"Marco, is that you?" Marco and Sensei turned to look at who had just spoken with a somewhat French accent.

They saw a woman who had light coffee colored skin with rich golden eyes and long brown hair looking at them in concern. She was wearing a red skirt with a pink t-shirt over a longer white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. To complement her clothes she also had red lipstick, small gold hoop earrings, and black high heels on as well. Sensei stood up immediately composing himself with Marco smiling and speaking up.

"Ms. Dimartino. Nice to see you again." He stepped over with the two hugging each other while Sensei stared for a second before Dimartino spoke up.

"It is so nice to see you again Marco, we rarely see each other anymore." They stepped apart with her smiling a mile wide with Marco speaking to Dimartino.

"Oh, this is Sensei, Sensei this is Ms. Dimartino." The two looked at each other a second before Sensei bowed to her with clasped hands speaking up.

"Yes I am Marco's Karate Sensei, out with Marco on a spirit quest to get Marco his Black Belt. If I may be so bold who are you and how do you fit in Marco's life?" Dimartino giggled a little before curtsying to him with her feet taking a ballet pose before speaking.

"I am Ms. Dimartino, Marco's former Ballet instructor." Sensei blinked in shock and turned towards Marco who nodded to confirm it. "He still comes on occasion to practice in the main studio but those times are infrequent. It is a shame really; he was one of my finest students." She turned to Marco standing back up and rubbing his head with Marco leaning into it before Sensei spoke up.

"Marco, you never told me you did ballet." Marco shrugged and replied nonchalantly.

"It never came up. Besides how else do you think I managed to get halfway up the scale of belts and stripes within my first month without proper physical training?" Sensei scratched his chin in thought as Dimartino stopped rubbing Marco's head and spoke to him.

"So how has life been going for you?" Marco smiled as he answered.

"Actually pretty great looking back on it; I've been through a lot recently but everything is lining up for me now. School let out about a week back so I have all summer to hang with my new girlfriend, a foreign exchange student named Star Butterfly." Dimartino giggled at that and replied.

"I thought you had a thing for Jackie?" Marco shrugged and leaned against the wall as he replied.

"It didn't work out that well; we are great friends but a bad couple, one of the bumps in the road not so long ago. So what are you doing out here at thrift shops?" Dimartino pulled out a reusable shopping bag as she spoke.

"I'm just looking through the stores for random items I find appealing, it saves a lot of money and you find things you never knew you needed. Say what are you doing out here when you are going for your Black Belt?" Marco sighed and replied to Dimartino's concerned voice.

"Sensei didn't fully learn how to teach the Black Belt and now we need to find the VHS for it so he can train me proper…" Marco looked over his shoulder to gesture at Sensei but found he wasn't there. "Um, did you see him leave?" Dimartino shrugged in confusion as Marco went for the front door. "Sensei."


	73. Black Belt Pt 2

"Sensei? Sensei?" Marco stepped out of the thrift store looking around in confusion as he searched for Sensei. "Now where could he…" Marco was interrupted when he heard Sensei's voice at an icy stand.

"Let's mix Black raspberry and lime… wait no do a little bit of everything zombie style." Marco blinked in confusion walking up and speaking to Sensei with Ms. Dimartino watching.

"Um Sensei, what are you doing?" Sensei turned to Marco and spoke without batting an eye.

"Oh my allowance isn't in yet this week, could you spare a few bucks?" Marco reached inside his uniform instinctively before coming to his senses.

"Wait you're an adult, why would need me for..." He looked around as Sensei had vanished again with the stand keeper shrugging at Marco's confusion. "Now where did he go?" He looked around with his eyes landing on Sensei who was bouncing on the back wheel of his bicycle counting the number of times.

"51,52,53…" Marco then noticed he was doing it for a group of ladies who looked impressed. Groaning in frustration he walked in Sensei's direction. "… 56,57,58…"

"SENSEI!" Everyone looked at Marco as he spoke to Sensei beyond annoyed. "We are supposed to be looking for a Black Belt VHS; what are you doing?!" Sensei continued bouncing up and down as he talked to Marco.

"Oh Marco, these chicks totally dig my bike." He gestured behind him with the girls chuckling and Marco's look going deadpan as he spoke.

"Are you for real?" Sensei stopped at that and turned to face Marco about to speak but was cut off. "You don't really want to earn your black belt do you?" Sensei looked around in confusion before speaking.

"Look man, we tried and we failed and that's ok." Marco's frustration really boiled over at this point.

"No it's not ok!" The ladies then walked off with Sensei giving Marco a genuinely shocked look. "I wanted to be like you but… you're just like me and I don't want to remain like this. I want to be better than myself, I want to be more than just an immature dude coasting through life and living with his parents. I genuinely respected you but you it seems are not a person worth respecting in the slightest." Marco glared daggers at Sensei with Ms. Dimartino still listening in a bit nervously. "Honestly, I never truly wanted to leave Ballet and perhaps I shouldn't have. Ms. Dimartino at least told me to reach for greater heights and encouraged me to keep going no matter what." He turned his back to Sensei speaking over his shoulder. "I am going to find that tape and I am going to get my black belt without you." He began walking away with Sensei calling out.

"Uh… bow to your Sensei." Marco closed eyes that brimmed with frustration and he spoke through clenched teeth.

"I have no Sensei." He kept on walking rounding a corner with Sensei staring after him.

Eventually Sensei got off his bicycle and sat on the sidewalk sighing in defeat as he stared at the ground. Ms. Dimartino looked after Marco and glanced back at Sensei before deciding maybe she should do something about this. She keeled down next to him and was about to speak when he spoke up first.

"Don't bother, the boy's right." A tear slid down from his eye. "I… did have dreams once but… they faded. I tried reaching up for the stars once; I was gonna be an actor in martial arts style movies. But then I failed college by getting in with the wrong crowd and losing most of my tuition money to a scammer. I took what was left and started up the dojo as I didn't know what else to do which has… not been panning out well. Only the Birnbaum's money has been keeping my business afloat and the Karate society has still not accepted me into it. I guess when my dreams faded away… I faded away." He closed his eyes with tears coming down from them. "That boy is better than I am, I don't deserve to be his Sensei or to get that black belt. All I deserve is to… fade away like the failure I am." As the two sat there for a minute Ms. Dimartino smiled and rubbed his head with Sensei looking up in shock.

"You failed, says who?" Sensei blinked in shock as she continued. "To say you failed for good in life is to say someone else had a goal for you to reach in the first place. I may seem on top of it given what Marco has said but there's more to me than meets the eye. From my experiences, both good and bad, the only one who can truly say that you failed is yourself. I will tell you something you already know, the world is not a friendly place especially when you go out naïve and innocent. People will beat you down and take advantage of you sometimes for the simple pleasure of doing it despite how hard you fight back. But it's not how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep going through the storm of fists that fly your way. So don't say that you should just fade away into nothingness because you failed in the past, that's what cowards do." She looked off in Marco's direction and sighed. "I get the feeling Marco recognized that as well at some point given how he was holding himself when he spoke about Jackie. So only you determine when you have failed, the question is if and when you fail what are you going to do about it? Can you honestly let your student go it alone because you deem the prize he seeks is beyond your worth?" Sensei blinked at her words and thought about it for a total of six seconds before he wiped the tears away and stood up with a determined look on his face uttering one word before going after Marco.

"No."

* * *

"*Sigh* Where am I going to look next?" Marco spoke to himself as he walked down the sidewalk. "I mean I'm not going to just bump into where I need to go." He looked up hopefully but found he didn't bump into anything. "Well it was worth a shot." He continued walking before getting an idea. "Maybe I need to not look for a thrift store but a VHS store. One of those might still be in existence." He searched his phone quickly and found out where it was. "Wait a…" He quickly ran around the corner and saw the sign 'VHS DEPOT' one top of an aged store. "Huh, I almost did just run into it." He entered the store taking in the style that was obviously 80's with rows of VHS tapes everywhere. "Man, this feels like one of those Blockbuster stores from days of yore." There were only two people in the store with one of them being the person behind the counter, looking like a stereotypical fat geek, who was speaking as Marco approached.

"You are not a Sinophile. Next." He called out putting a tape back behind the counter with the man walking off and Marco speaking up.

"Ah yes, I'd like to see if you had any rare karate instructional videos?" The man's eyes lit up as he folded his hands on the counter and replied.

"Finally, a customer who actually knows what they're talking about." Marco spoke up eagerly.

"It's the 'How to Karate series' the black belt tape." The man smiled and gestured behind him speaking up.

"For behold the coveted final volume of the collection, the black belt cassette; viewed only once." Marco smiled ear to ear and reached out to it with the man slapping his hand away. "Not without gloves please." Marco groaned and spoke up.

"Ok ok fine, how much does it cost?"

"I will give you the effecianado price, $2,400." Marco's eyes bugged out as he replied.

"Dollars?! Ok I cannot afford that." The man rubbed his chin in thought before speaking again.

"Well there is another option for this particular cassette, fight me for it." Marco blinked thinking 'this is too easy' as he replied.

"Well… sure I'll take that option." The man smiled and stood up towering to about Buff Frog's height looking just as muscular. He smiled and got into a fighting stance as Marco got into one himself knowing he had constantly been outclassed by warriors like this in the past in a straight up fight. "I am not leaving without that tape!"

The man smiled and shoved the counter aside like it was nothing and went on the offensive giving short and sharp jabs at Marco. Marco dodged these blows as best as possible and found that the geek was slightly slower than he was when it came to attack speed. Marco shot forward with a frontal kick to test the geek's reflexes expecting him to block or try to grab Marco's leg. Instead the geek flexed his pectoral muscles and caught Marco's leg between them twirling him around and throwing him to the side. Marco managed to land on his feet but was suddenly assaulted by VHS tapes being shot out of random machines at him by the geek. Groaning in frustration at the unfair fight Marco dodged and blocked most of the VHS tapes but was struck by one out of four hitting him hard. Then the geek pulled out two tapes that were put together like nunchucks and twirled them around for a second before ensnaring Marco's feet with them. Marco didn't have time to marvel at the geek's fighting style as he fell to the ground leaving himself exposed to the geek's attack. Taking a flying assault the geek leapt into the air and came down with his foot coming down on Marco like the end of the world. Marco rolled out of the way at the last second coming upright and dodging secondary attacks the geek threw at him. As they continued to fight the door to the shop opened with Sensei and Ms. Dimartino coming into the store with Sensei speaking up.

"Marco, I've come to help you finish your… what the…" The two stared at the fight Marco and the geek were having before sensei spoke up. "Don't worry Marco, I'm not letting you fight this alone." The geek turned towards the new intruders and pulled out a remote hitting a button causing an avalanche of tapes to fall from a hidden area in the ceiling.

Ms. Dimartino was out of the fall area but Sensei was caught in the avalanche completely. Marco took this opportunity to try and strike at the geek's back with the Geek clenching his shoulder blades catching Marco's foot between them and throwing him across the room again. Ms. Dimartino leaned down to help Sensei who wriggled his way out of the pile of tapes with a frustrated look on his face speaking up.

"Oh come on, the one time I dig deep I get tied up and have to do the worm?!" Ms. Dimartino began pulling at the tapes speaking to him.

"Don't worry, I will get you out of that… eventually." She pulled at the tape with the geek hitting another button causing several 'geek ninjas' to come out of hiding and surround Ms. Dimartino and Sensei. "Excuse me a second." Ms. Dimartino then took of her shoes and took a crane Kung-Fu pose.

The ninjas looked at each other for a moment before attacking Ms. Dimartino in a group with her twirling out of the group and taking down one of them with several sharp jabs that seemed to almost paralyze the man. Sensei looked up in awe as she dodged more strikes and kicked straight up taking out a ninja with a kick to the jaw. The ninja's held back a moment prompting Sensei to speak up.

"Wait, you can fight?" Ms. Dimartino turned towards Sensei smiling and blew some hair out of her face.

"Kung Fu crane style, I studied it before I got into ballet. Like I said, there is more to me than meets the eye." She winked at him as she reengaged the ninja's with Sensei blushing slightly at that.

Marco on the other hand was struggling to keep up with the geek warrior and tried throwing a tape at the geek's face to distract him. The Geek blocked it but left Marco enough room to get up on top of the VHS shelves to get a respite. As he did so however the geek shot more tapes at Marco with him leaping to another shelf to avoid the blows. Growling in frustration the geek pushed over the shelves causing a domino effect that knocked down the shelf Marco was on throwing him to the floor. As he got his bearings back the Geek started charging in and took a flying leap bearing down on Marco. Marco tried to get up but found he was pinned under the shelf and could not get out easily. Getting himself ready for impact Marco suddenly heard Sensei call out to him.

"Marco. Clip. The. Toenail!" With no other options Marco closed his eyes, waved his hands, and shot one out going to clip the toenail.

His hand made contact with something prompting Marco to look up and double take at the fact he had just caught the geek's toe in mid-flight bringing him to a standstill. Marco gazed in shock as the geek swayed for a second comedically before falling to the ground with an oof and just stared at the ceiling in shock. As he did so Ms. Dimartino took out the last ninja and wiped her brow before helping Marco out of the shelf that had pinned him down.

"You… defeated me." The geek looked up at Marco in shock as he spoke. "The tape is yours." He held out the VHS to Marco who took it smiling while Sensei wormed his way up to them speaking up.

"Say, does he by any chance have the 'how to untangle VHS tapes' VHS tape?" Marco groaned and turned to the geek speaking to him in frustration.

"I've had enough of this. Do you have a pair of scissors?" The Geek smiled at this going to speak up. "And no not the critically acclaimed romantic comedy 'A Pair of Scissors', an actual pair of scissors." The geek then lowered his replying.

"No." Marco groaned and went off to look for scissors with Sensei speaking to Ms. Dimartino.

"Thank you for, you know, helping us out here." She shrugged and replied.

"It's what I do. Now then, let's get you out of there so you can learn your black belt."

* * *

The tape wrapped up with Marco and Sensei turning and bowing to each other solemnly with Sensei speaking up.

"Well done, red is your color but you pull off black really well." Marco smiled and replied to that.

"Well Black it most definitely your color." The two chuckled with Sensei speaking up seriously.

"Mr. Diaz, there is no more I can teach you as of now. Honestly the strip mall Karate dojo has nothing more to teach you as well. It is time you leave and seek out your next teacher if you wish to become greater still." Marco nodded and replied.

"Thank you Sensei, I will never forget what you have done for me." Marco then turned around and left with Sensei whispering under his breath.

"Nor will I forget what you have done for me."

* * *

Star sat in the ballet studio watching several of the students dance alongside multiple other people with interest as she munched quietly. She was currently wearing a green skirt-shirt with a rainbow in the chest region with red and pink leggings all of which were under a heavy coat due to the cold ballet temperature. Marco had recently rejoined the ballet studio and almost as if to celebrate his return Ms. Dimartino had made an open night for people to come in. According to Marco she had done this multiple times in the past but this was unusual for a ballet studio; however it helped her business by showing people what their friends had accomplished. The catch was you only come by invitation and the students could only invite one person which surprised Star a little that Marco invited her to watch. As the dance finished most of the students moved to the side, the group being almost completely female, with only Marco remaining in a leotard that showed off his physic rather well. Star giggled under her breath slightly only to feel a pang of jealousy when she noticed that some of the other students were staring at Marco with 'interest' in their eyes. Star frowned slightly before shaking the jealousy off and turning back to Marco who began dancing to some music being played.

Star watched Marco dance seeing him almost float around the studio as if he was as light as air. His feet formed a complex pattern that Star knew she would never master as he twisted and bent his body to maintain his balance. As he continued Star could feel the peace and joy radiating from him as he seemed to enter a type of zen zone. 'He must really love dancing' Star thought to herself as she sighed admiring his beautiful dancing. After what felt like an eternity Marco finally stopped with everyone applauding with Star just getting up and blowing Marco a kiss. Marco stepped off to the side as the people got up to leave with the other students going to mob Marco telling him how great he was. Star groaned and moved in their direction with Marco's eyes lighting up when he saw her and called out to her.

"Star, there you are." As he pushed towards her the other students turned in her direction double taking as they saw her. "I was wondering if you were going to get here." Star grabbed his head placing a long kiss on it before pulling back and speaking to him.

"Of course I would make it; I wanted to see my boyfriend dance ballet after all." Marco blinked at the sudden kiss and shook his head smiling as he replied.

"Well thank you regardless." He then turned towards the other students. "Hey guys, this is my girlfriend Star Butterfly." They all stared at Star for a minute looking at each other in confusion as Star grabbed onto Marco snuggling in close. "Wow, you're being a might bit cuddly right now." Star looked up at him before replying.

"It's cold in this studio; you know how I deal with cold." The students looked at each other again before one of the students spoke up.

"I thought you were with Jackie?" Marco shook his head no at that with Star glancing down unsure of what to say. "Well it doesn't matter; Star looks prettier and more energetic then Jackie." At that the students began to either talk to Star or break off to join their own families. While this happened Ms. Dimartino smiled at the gathering before turning to Sensei who spoke up to her.

"Thank you for inviting me to this. I think I needed to see what Marco was capable of." She shrugged and went to move over but Sensei was not finished. "Also, thank you for the pep talk. I'm getting the studio officiated in two weeks from now and I'm starting classes in business management this fall. Just wanted to let you know how much you um, helped me." He bowed to Ms. Dimartino with her blushing slightly before curtseying back to him.

"Helping people is kind of my thing Sensei… say do you have a name by any chance?" Sensei chuckled and spoke up to that.

"It's actually Brently, everyone just calls me Sensei; although honestly I should call you Sensei." He walked away with Dimartino's blush not going away as a thought entered her head.

'You know, he is actually kind of cute. Perhaps I should help him out some more.'

* * *

In a small town on Mewni there wasn't much activity going on due to a low population size caused by people moving away to look for work. The only real area of activity was the 'Red Dragon Inn and Bordello' where there was a still sizable crowd despite the loss of population. However, behind the front area where guests were attended to there was a treasonous secret behind its back. This was a safety house and meeting center for Forest Barbarians across the nation to plan and resupply if they could. Now it was needed more than ever as safe houses were being exposed by double agents at an exponential rate due to the new reforms made by Ludo of the senate. In the back room multiple warriors were sitting in silence contemplating their next move if there even was one. Eventually one of the barbarians bearing a brown beard that stretched to the floor broke the silence with the question on everyone's minds.

"We are losing on all fronts. What are we to do?" Others either shrugged or didn't respond with one scantily clad whore answering him as she passed by.

"Adapt and overcome, it's all we can do at this point." A sudden whump and shifting towards the back entrance got everyone's attention with a whore running in speaking fast.

"What appears to be a Butterfly family member has arrived and is coming in through the secret entrance." All the warriors looked at each other in worry as a tall and skinny barbarian spoke up to this.

"They discovered us already." Three short barbarians in a group spoke up to this in unison.

"Not good." As the crowd began to murmur in worry Dumnorix stood up picking up a random axe and shield sitting nearby and hit them together while turning to the back entry way.

"I will not be taken by these wannabe rulers." He turned to the crowd speaking up loudly. "Who wishes to spit at the Butterfly's one last time." The crowd looked at each other a second before grabbing their weapons and growling a challenge as footsteps signaled the approach of the individual with Dumnorix whispering. "It is a good day to die." At his words a familiar female voice spoke up.

"How about to come back from the dead?" Mavis stepped through the entry way smiling at the crowd who lowered their weapons.

"Mavis?!"

"You're alive?!"

"Impossible." Mavis smiled at their words and stepped into the room speaking up.

"Oh come on, I'm a survivor like all of you. And judging by the way you are all skulking in the shadows like this it must mean the war is not progressing very well is it?" Everyone looked back and forth at each other unsure with Dumnorix speaking up.

"Sadly it is. I'm afraid you have returned for our final hour." Mavis stood up straighter at that and spoke up.

"Well then, perhaps we should turn the odds to our favor." She pulled out her half of the wand which glowed a somber green color. "When Star destroyed her family heirloom several of the spirits of the wand turned on her. Now they follow the true queen of Mewni." Everyone gazed at it in awe with glints of hope in their eyes. There were some who had hesitant looks on their faces however which prompted Mavis to whistle. "Ancalagon!" Everyone looked up at her in confusion as the sound of heavy footsteps came through the hallway as the dragon entered the room prompting Dumnorix to stammer a little.

"Mavis. Is… is that a…" Mavis laughed out loud and turned back towards the crowd smiling more devilishly before speaking again.

"Like I said, time to true the odds in our favor. And what better to do it then with a dragon." She nodded to the now black bear sized Ancalagon who reared up extending his wings and breathing a short burst of lilac flame just to show off to the crowd.

 **WH: Whew, finally. *Steps away from the now defeated bug looking battered and bruised* Now that that is done I can get back important things like *phone ringing* Hold up a second. *listens to phone for a second and nods before hanging up* Well, change of plans. Meditation is over, time to see if I can survive the 'Season of the Dragon'.**


	74. Season of the Dragon Pt 1

**WH: *checks pocket watch* IT is time. Red sun rises after the full moon in the first month of summer. The summer of children is long gone already. Now is the Season of the Dragon.**

 **SN: Um, who are you talking to?**

 **WH: The sky obviously, why else would I just be talking into the sky and monologing like this?** ***Everyone looks at each other in worry as the sun rises.***

Dumnorix looked around the encampment and smiled at how genuinely well things were coming along in building up their scattered forces. Mavis had found and 'altered' an empty hollow of a mountain in order to hide the Forest Barbarian remnants so they had a central base of command. It had barely been two weeks since Mavis had returned but she had quite a following already due to her wand and True Dragon. He still shuddered in both awe and fear at that beast thanking his luck that the supposedly extinct creature was under Mavis's command. He then sighed wishing how Selene could be here now to help them, good Gods did he miss her. As he was caught up in this he noticed the… 'I think it's the 'Madam' of the Red Dragon Inn and Bordello' he thought to himself as she came up and spoke to him.

"Sir Dumnorix…" He shushed her then and spoke quickly.

"Not sir, just Dumnorix. I am no noble or knight." She then nodded remaining silent for several seconds before speaking again.

"Well whatever you wish to be addressed as, I wish to speak with Mavis. I have knowledge that may help our cause with the help of the dragon she has under her command." He raised his eyebrow at her and rubbed his beard for a second before nodding in agreement.

"Very well, I will take you to her." They moved through the encampment towards Mavis's command tent.

As they moved he took in the Madam of the Inn and Bordello and again wondered who exactly she was. While she walked and held herself like a Madam he could see a relaxed wariness that warriors often had about them and a lightness to her feet that did not match her demeanor. But what's more he found that she looked and came across surprisingly familiar for some reason. She seemed close to her mid to late 50's, like he was, with her shoulder length hair as much grey as it was red framing her freckled face and sharp cunning green eyes. He could also tell she was shorter than most and not as well 'built' as he thought a person whose livelihood revolved around pleasing men would be; almost childlike in some regards. 'Eh, probably like a younger version of my grandma.' He thought shrugging as they heard Mavis's tent. The surrounding area was filled with tents and small workshop areas where weapons, armor, and other supplies were gathered and maintained. It was actually thanks to the Bordello that they managed to get most of the supplies out here in the first place with the whores pitching in to help set things up. He smiled at the rebels interacting with each other and opened the tent walking in and speaking up.

"Mavis, the Red Dragon Madam wishes to…" He trailed off as he took in the sight of Mavis breast feeding Ancalagon who was curled up on her lap. "…uhm…" As he stared she spoke up nonchalantly.

"What, can a mother not feed her child?" The Madam and Dumnorix looked at each other in confusion before shrugging. "Well he doesn't _need_ milk per say but I still do this for him as he seems to benefit from the milk." Her voice then got all cutesy as she leaned down to Ancalagon. "Plus he looks absolutely adorable doesn't he." She rubbed his neck with Ancalagon purring slightly under Mavis's touch. "So what is it you needed?" The madam cleared her throat and stepped forward speaking up.

"Actually it is about the true dragon at your breast." Mavis looked up sharply with a protective air about her. "No no, it's not going to hurt him." Mavis relaxed slightly at that. "There are some things about True Dragons most people wouldn't believe are true to the point where the truth is more fantastical then the stories. True Dragons have many strange abilities like using latent magic to bend reality around them, the power to tamper with minds, and even command other creatures to their will." Dumnorix outright scoffed at that speaking up.

"What else do they do; hoard treasure, speak in riddles, kidnap princesses, learn professional magic?" The Madam rolled her eyes as he continued. "For that matter how do you really know what True Dragons are like? They have been extinct for centuries and knowledge on them is sparse, far beyond the reach of someone like yourself." The Madam went to reply but Mavis cut her off.

"Wait." They both looked at her as she glanced at her wand with the color wavering a little bit and a humming sound coming from it. "I will hear what she has to say first." Dumnorix nodded and sat back with The Madam talking.

"Well all draconic creatures are in a way connected by what is known as 'The Spirits of Shimazu' a magical force specific to dragons. True Dragons have a far stronger connection to it than other Draconic creatures and can use it in ways some might deem unnatural. Your 'child' might have a grasp of these powe… *sigh* I'll make this simple. You know of the recent migration of fire drakes right?" Mavis nodded in response to The Madam. "Well my view is perhaps your 'child' could command the drakes in the way a general would command an army." Mavis stared at her blankly for a few seconds while Ancalagon finished eating and pulled away before speaking.

"Well…" She seemed to pause as a humming sound came from the wand. "… I will consider it." Dumnorix looked at Mavis shocked as he spoke up now.

"Wait, you believe her?" Mavis put back on her top as she replied.

"I said I would consider it. There is much that may or may not be true about Ancalagon and I am willing to try out anything at this point. In case if you are not aware we are still far behind Moon at this point and need every advantage that we can get." Dumnorix nodded in begrudging consent as Mavis stood up adjusting her rather well-endowed bust at this point. "Now unless if there is any other news or propositions I have business I need to attend to." She walked out of the tent leading Ancalagon along with Dumnorix scratching his chin in confusion and The Madame looking at Mavis's bust with a 'not bad' expression on her face.

* * *

"Steady, steady…" Star spoke to herself as she maneuvered the pieces of the ship she was building inside of a bottle. Star was using her wand to do this and the pink magic held things up carefully putting them into place like a puzzle…

"Star." Star leapt up at the voice and, with her concentration broken, the ship fell to pieces.

"Marco, can't you see I'm busy?" Star called over her shoulder to Marco who looked into the room with an annoyed look on his face.

"Star my parents are coming home and we promised them we'd have the house completely cleaned when they came back." His eyes roamed over her room taking in several dozen ship-in-a-bottles. "Um are you building a whole new Mewman navy or are those more than enough ships." Star faced him with a 'really' face and replied.

"Too many ships? Marco do you even know me?" Marco sighed and replied to that.

"Fair point. Just be sure to do your half of the chores ok." Star nodded sighing in annoyance and waved her wand with the magic suddenly turning a sickly green color shooting out a grey cloud with a face on it. "… uhm, who is that?" Marco pointed to the cloud.

"Oh that's cloudy; he helps me out in maintaining my room." Star gestured to her clean and well organized room. "Cloudy, take out the garbage." Cloudy looked around the room as if in a daze and spoke up in a squeaky voice.

"Oh, hehehehe, hello there Star. What's that you want me to take out the garbage?" Star nodded with Cloudy chuckling again. "Ok, guess that task is too 'common' and 'dirty' for a princess's delicate hands." He giggled as he flew off with Marco watching him go before turning back to Star.

"Um, does he normally act like this?" Star got up and walked out of the room as she replied.

"Not exactly, usually he's pink and a lot more chipper. Come on, the sooner we can resolve these chores the better." Marco watched Star walk off with a bit of concern as she was acting a bit more annoyed then normal and how he thought he saw green magic like when she had a PTSD episode. Shaking his head mentally prepping himself for whatever was coming he followed Star out.

* * *

Mavis looked out across the flat to where the drakes had gathered up in their annual migration route hearing a low chittering sound that was the drakes interacting with each other. She then looked back at the group she had gathered with her to test out the Madam's theory and sighed. The two Alucards had told her to test out the Madam's theory but she was still a bit unsure about this especially as Ancalagon nuzzled up next to Mavis chittering in concern. This was her baby, the child she never had and despite him not being Mewman she found herself being closer to him than any other being she had ever known. She rubbed the feather's on his head comforting him as best as possible as she spoke to the group.

"Alright in case if you do not know or remember why we are here allow me to refresh your memory. Supposedly Ancalagon can command the other drakes to do his bidding according to some ancient knowledge." She looked out over the crowd with everyone nodding with suspicion in their eyes. "If this proves false then we will most likely need to fight our way out as the drakes are not going to take our intrusion lying down. But IF it proves correct we will have ourselves a second army right off the bat. Any questions?" The group looked back and forth between each other before one spoke up.

"How are you sure enough for this to work that you are willing to risk it?" At this the wand spoke to her.

" _Nothing ventured nothing gained your Majesty."_ Mavis spoke up to the warrior.

"I just have a feeling." She gestured for them to follow her with everyone falling in behind her.

As they moved across the flat silently she looked back over her group tallying that everyone was in fact here. She knew she should have trusted the warriors to follow her but considering her past experiences with them she noted it was for the best to keep an eye on them. She noticed several people who were followers of her's before the wand shattering with Dumnorix sticking out amongst them. She knew she could rely on that man above all else and thanked the Gods he was still up and kicking. She also noted with a sigh that Selene was still gone and hoped Selene would find her way back after hearing about Mavis and her new wand. She didn't note anything important about the others but one short one kept her hood up over her face the whole time while carrying a strangely high end and elaborate bow. 'Well, can't really judge based on appearances.' Mavis thought and shrugged as they made it across the flat to the entrance of the gathering grounds.

Despite how it may have appeared this was not in fact a mating gathering as that would not be happening for months at this point. Instead it was one of the 'cycling' migrations where the drake population just switched locations with each other. Once roughly every six months half of the drake population of an area would move to a new area with that population sending its half to a different area. From what scholars could tell it helped insure drake populations remained fluid and dynamic as well as to insure an exchange of information. Drakes were rather intelligent creatures and could learn how to overcome different obstacles as well as teach others how to. This migration also helped push excess population out of their lands and into new areas with their numbers insuring they had a higher chance of survival. This of course led to the fact that every six months at least one kingdom would have to deal with Drakes going after farmers.

As they finally got in to the edge of the area Mavis looked out over the grounds where drakes were mostly sleeping or 'conversing' with each other. She looked over her posse again getting nervous but steadfast looks from them. She nodded and whispered to Ancalagon.

"Go on out there and be yourself, I will be right here in case if things go bad." Ancalagon chirped at her and trotted out into the main area.

"Uh warchief?" Mavis turned to see one of the Danter triplets, three short men stacked on top of one another usually, approach her. "What exactly is the plan again?" Mavis nodded consenting to his point and gestured for everyone to come in close before speaking.

"Well a new entity approaching this gathering ground that looks like a drake is going to rile up some interest. According to the Madam what Ancalagon needs to do is get the so called Alpha of the group's attention and challenge him for dominance. Now we don't need to strictly have that happen but removing the Alpha is needed so our method will be to, once we discover it, kill it when it's guard is down." Mumbled roars from the main area drew their attention back to the main area.

Ancalagon was going through the area untouched but multiple drakes were staring at him suspiciously and sniffing the air. It was then Mavis finally got a good look at the drakes and marveled at how different they looked in shape and size and was able to actually name several. There were stocky Gronckles, spined Deadly Nadders, mysterious Changewings, cute Terrible Terrors, exotic Zipplebacks, and many more different varieties she could not name. She noticed most of them were only about the same size or smaller then Ancalagon if you took his wings into account. However mostly clustered in the center, with a few scattered amongst the several hundred or so lazing about, were those that were not only bigger but some were easily twice the size of Ancalagon. And considering he was the size of a small brown bear that was no small feat. Mavis repressed a shudder of worry as Ancalagon approached the center with the group of big boys pulling apart to look at him suspiciously. She noticed this group was mostly full of monstrous Nightmares, a drake said to be able to set themselves on fire if they were in close combat.

Ancalagon paused a second and looked back at where he left Mavis who gestured for him to go on nervously. He chittered again in worry and stepped forward to within a few feet of the central group who warned him off with growls and hisses. This got the attention of the drakes lazing about who all immediately looked at Ancalagon who was clearly feeling the pressure now. As he glanced about in worry two final drakes unfurled itself from the mound and cast an annoyed glance at Ancalagon; both three times his size. As they both loomed over him with annoyance for being disturbed by a newcomer Mavis heard one of her band members speak aloud.

"The one on the left, it's a Timberjack." She pointed to one that was golden colored with massive wings and a relatively small body. "Supposedly it's wings are so sharp it can cut down a whole forest just by flying through it. But what is that…" She gestured towards the one on the right with Dumnorix speaking up.

"That is a Bonenapper." Everyone gasped and hunkered down as they took in what looked like a skeleton dragon. "Considering it's great size and bulk, not even taking into account the stories of this beast, I would saw that one is the Alpha." Everyone nodded in consent especially when the Timberjack, the second most powerful of the bunch, seemed to bow to the Bonenapper as if addressing a superior.

Everyone held their breath as the drakes communicated amongst themselves for a second with the Bonenapper not saying much. After a little while though Ancalagon began 'speaking' to them which did take the Bonenapper's interest. With a surprisingly silent voice it chittered to Ancalagon engaging him in a 'conversation' of sorts. Everyone in her group let out a held breath with Mavis giving silent signals to everyone. They could technically talk but now that the area was pretty silent and everyone was alert it would likely be best to just keep quite. The group nodded and got out crossbows and bows aiming them in the direction of the Bonenapper in case if things went south. The Bonenapper then stepped towards Ancalagon and sniffed him cautiously blinking in confusion for a second before pulling back. When the 'conversation' started up again Ancalagon responded rather eagerly to the Bonenapper's words and gestured towards where Mavis and the others were hiding. Feeling the attention of the Bonenapper focus in on them, as well as the other drakes, Mavis spoke up quietly to everyone.

"Ok, I did not account for this in the slightest." As a drake peaked around some rocks seeing them and roaring out one of the warriors spoke up.

"So we are in trouble then?" The other drakes immediately began growling at where they were hiding with Mavis responding.

"Oh yes most definitely."

* * *

Star finished up the attic cobweb dusting with a sneeze before flipping from her hold on the ceiling and landed on the floor. As she brushed herself off Marco called from down below with concern in his voice.

"Star you might want to see this." Star groaned in exasperation and started downstairs calling out to Marco.

"I'll take care of the bathrooms in a minute, I just finished up the attic dusting." As she got downstairs Marco's worried look made her mood soften. "It's not about my chores is it?" Marco rubbed his arm in worry as he replied.

"Well not exactly." He pointed to the kitchen with Star poking her head in to see Cloudy throwing the garbage all over the place. "Are you sure you cast the right spell on him?" Star nervously rushed out and began yelling at Cloudy.

"Cloudy, what are you doing?!" Cloudy threw aside what was left of the garbage bag and giggled gleefully before speaking.

"Oh hey Star *hehe* don't know what's going on with me right now. Guess I just have a lot of energy from all that iced tea." As Cloudy giggled Star got annoyed again and spoke sharply to Cloudy.

"Cloudy pick up this mess right now! I told you to take out the garbage not scatter it everywhere." Cloudy chuckled and flew into the living room and began pouring rain everywhere speaking again.

"Welp there goes the iced tea. WHEEEEEEE!" He twirled around knocking items to the ground with Star groaning even more in annoyance before going to cast 'Sunshi-'. "Sunshine rainbow friendship? Looks like someone is allergic to good vibs." He blew wind at Star forcefully messing up her hair and flustering her with her wand turning the poison green color again.

Marco noticed and ran up to stop Star but he was too late as she cast a 'Sunshine rainbow friendship' with the corrupted magic and hit Cloudy. Cloudy now glowed an eerie toxic green color and turned on Star with an angry look on his face. Star realized the mistake she had made too late and shot a 'Mystical Exit Beam' at Cloudy sending him outside the house. With him outside Marco quickly leapt at every door and window in the house with cartoonish speed locking everything down. As he finished up what sounded like a storm was brewing outside Making Star rub her tail nervously. Marco and Star looked at each other and spoke in unison.

"We need Glossarick." They ran upstairs at breakneck speed with Star bursting into her room and opening up the book of spells calling out.

"Glossarick. We have a problem here." As she opened the book to where he was she stopped and stared at his limp figure with a crusting of pink 'stuff' on the side of his head. "Um Glossarick, are you ok?" Glossarick turned towards the duo groaning as he spoke.

"Ohhhhh, not so loud please." Star and Marco looked at each other in concern before Marco whispered to Glossarick.

"Is this quite enough?" Glossarick moaned before nodding with Star speaking up again.

"What happened to you?" Glossarick moaned again as he answered.

"I had an accident. Never use magic on your face people." Star shook her head in annoyance again as she spoke up.

"Glossarick I think there's something wrong with my wand." Glossarick asked her what was wrong with it and Star elaborated. "Well when I cast it the magic… comes out weird. It's not doing what it's supposed to." Glossarick moaned again before replying.

"Well perhaps the problem is you, ever stopped to think about that." Star blinked in shock at this and began growling at Glossarick speaking up with her eyes going cat-pupil yellow.

"I am good at magic. Don't throw around accusations like I am…" She immediately stopped when Marco began combing her hair with the special comb as Glossarick responded.

"Well perhaps what I'm saying is… there is something wrong with everyone. I mean take me for instance, I did this to myself and I have lifetimes of experience all added up." Marco sighed and responded to Glossarick as Star calmed down.

"No help as usual."

"It hurts everywhere." Glossarick spoke as he closed the book on himself with Marco turning to Star.

"As strange as it may sound he may be onto something." Star looked at Marco in shock as he elaborated. "I mean ever since I interrupted your ship building you've been acting more… annoyed than usual." Star glared at him with narrowed eyes. "I mean usually when someone tells you that perhaps you did something wrong you try to find out what you did wrong. But you just threatened Glossarick back there." He put his hand on Star's shoulder looking at her with a worried expression. "Is everything ok? Did… I mess up somewhere?" Star's annoyance immediately and completely dissipated at Marco's face and she hugged him close before speaking.

"No nonononono, you didn't do anything. I mean you interrupted me when I was ship building but that was it." She stepped back taking a deep breath before continuing. "I just… well… all these are just worse because…" She fidgeted for a moment before blurting it out. "… I'm going through my time of the month!" Marco blinked blankly for a second before the realization hit him and he freaked out a little taking a few steps back from Star. "It's just… it's never been this bad before." She grabbed at her abdomen. "I woke up feeling like my 'bits' had just been clobbered by Dumnorix and sent through a blender on puree. I also feel like there's wax paper over my mind which has been put in an electric chair and keeps on getting shocked. I tried distracting myself with zen time but the music only seemed to annoy me and I couldn't read properly. So I tried distracting myself with the ships in bottles but then you told me to help you out and I destroyed my Flagship by accident at the interruption. And well… I kept on overreacting at all the annoyances." She grabbed her tail and started rubbing it. "I am so sorry about this Marco, I didn't mean to make you worry like that it's just…" Marco grabbed Star and turned her towards him before placing a kiss square on her lips immediately relaxing her. After a few seconds of calm they pulled apart with Marco speaking up.

"Better?" Star nodded softly. "Next time things are this bad for you just let me know and I'll take care of you. I don't know much about… these things." Marco cringed internally as he shied away from the idea of a period. "But I can help you as mom and dad actually taught me how to take care of a girl when she is in that state." He rubbed Star's cheek with her smiling at him her eyes going purplish-green despite everything.

Their quite moment was interrupted however by the windows shaking in their panes due to Cloudy's influence.


	75. Season of the Dragon Pt 2

***psst, 'The Unwild Hunt Pt. 3 has had a few alterations to it. I rarely post-post edit but I found the need to here. Sorry for the interruption.***

"Fight, fight warriors!" Dumnorix yelled at the warriors as they swatted at drakes.

When they had been alerted to the drakes the creatures converged on their location surrounding them and began harassing them. It didn't seem like they were being attacked seriously at the moment, only a dozen or so drakes attacked them at a time, but Mavis was still worried. Nearly a thousand drakes now sat around them watching the fight as if ready to leap at them at a moment's notice. The Nightmares, Timberjack, and Bonenapper were watching the fight in a group with an air of disinterest as drakes leapt in and out of the fight. Ancalagon was at the moment standing to the side looking back and forth between the drakes and warriors as if not sure of what to do. Her warriors on the other hand had no backup and the strain of the fight was clearly showing. Cuts, bruises, and burn marks marred her group as they fought back desperately. At the moment two of the drakes, a Gronkel and a Zippelback, were circling Dumnorix with them shooting some flames at him occasionally. Whenever he tried getting in close to beat them down one just retreated and the other struck at his back. Mavis raised her wand for what felt like the hundredth time that day and tried shooting magic out of it with nothing coming out.

"*Grrrr* what won't you work?!" At that one of the Alucard's responded to her.

" **It takes time to master the wand my child. Why did yo uwait until now to use our magic?** " Mavis let out a growl of frustration.

"You are of no help." Mavis then used it like a club to hit a Terrible Terror like a baseball while one of the warriors called out to her.

"Just cut open a portal for us to retreat already, is it really that hard?" Mavis hit her head with her free hand and reached in her clothing for the scissors but came up short.

"Ummmm…" She looked up to see a Terrible Terror gnawing on it at the foot of the Bonenapper. "Oh come on!" At this a Gronkle leapt at Mavis knocking her to the ground prone.

Before she got up the Gronkle pinned her down and seemed to smirk at her before readying his breath to strike Mavis down. Before he could do so however a sudden strike with a cudgel like tail sent him rolling as Ancalagon stood protectively over his mother. He reared back on his legs, spread his 4 wings out, extended all his purple feathers, and gave out a deafening screech that got everyone's attention. 'Well, I was wondering when he would get invol… wait what?!' Mavis's thoughts were interrupted as the drakes all immediately winced and stepped back from her group while getting into a strange 'bowing' position towards Ancalagon. Even the Monstrous Nightmares all growled a challenge before taking a step back from their group with the big two immediately looking at Ancalagon with interest. As Mavis got up she could clearly see Ancalagon was shocked but what had just happened and looked at Mavis to figure out what was going on. When Mavis smiled at him and chuckled Ancalagon seemed to realize this was good and turned back to the drakes hissing a challenge to them. Unfortunately he got a recipient in the form of the Bonenapper who looked like he wanted to kickass and take names now.

The Bonenapper seemed to go to roar but nothing came out of his mouth aside from a whisper as he charged Ancalagon. Ancalagon leapt at the beast using the talons on his feet and wings to tear at his foe but his blows just bounced off of the Bonenapper's armor. As Ancalagon reeled in shock the Bonenapper just used his larger size and greater mass to push Ancalagon to the ground and made him roll a few feet. The Bonenapper seemed to chuckle at Ancalagon before lunging in and grabbing the smaller opponent before tossing Ancalagon into the boulder Mavis's gang were hiding behind originally.

"NO!" Mavis charged the Bonenapper but a Nightmare knocked her down effortlessly and pinned her to the ground forcing her to watch the one-way fight.

The Bonenapper knocked Ancalagon about a few more times with Ancalagon trying to strike back with his blows bouncing off of the beasts bone armor. Taking on a haughty expression the Bonenapper pushed Ancalagon to the ground and ripped off the display feathers on his head and waved them around. The other drakes seemed to chuckle at this no longer being afraid of Ancalagon at this point. During this humiliation one of the warriors had scooped the scissors away from the Terrible Terror and had opened a portal motioning for the others. As they went for Mavis the Nightmare sent itself on fire to warn off the others while it motioned towards Ancalagon as if saying 'You will watch this.'. The Bonenapper now leaned down gripping Ancalagon's head in its jaws ready to crush it with a single bite…

" **NO!** " A flash of green magic erupted from Mavis's wand shooting a hole through the Nightmare's head killing it instantly and making it fall to the side. " **You do not touch my baby.** " Everyone looked at Mavis in shock as she raised her wand with her rose shaped cheek marks now glowing a poison green color. " **Let him go you BITCH!"** She then with a muffled scream shot a blast of energy at the Bonenapper striking it straight in the skull with the sound of splintering bone echoing through the crowd.

As everyone stared at Mavis in shock the Bonenapper reeled from the blow and stepped away from Mavis in shock as his 'helmet' had almost been completely destroyed. At this Ancalgon got back up and growled a challenged at the Bonenapper who looked nervously between him and Mavis. Ancalagon wasted no time however and shot a line of lilac flame at the now exposed face of the Bonenapper making it shriek in pain. The other drakes looked in dull shock but the Timberjack however immediately took to the sky shrieking in anger and swooped down on the group of warriors. Mavis shot magic at it but the Timberjack nimbly dodged those shots coming in for a strike at Mavis. As he got in close however one of the warriors, the one with the strangely high end bow, stepped between the two raising her bow and yelled out ' _Ryuuga wagateki wo kurau!_ ' As she shot her arrow it splintered apart in a flash of blue light with three serpent like dragons emerging and flying at the Timberjack in a swirled fashion. The Timberjack tried to dodge it but the dragons moved to intercept it and blasted it with a force that made it fall from the sky and skitter back 40 feet when it hit the ground.

The other warriors looked at Mavis and the small hooded figure in shock before turning to Ancalagon who was looming above the now terrified Bonenapper. As Ancalagon raised his arms to strike at the now exposed head the Bonenapper lowered its head in submission recognizing a new Alpha was in charge; even if the means were a bit unconventional. All the other drakes then immediately lowered their heads towards Ancalagon, even the Timberjack though it seemed unable to stand at this point. As this happened Ancalagon stood up taking a majestic pose with his wings fully extended and extending what display feathers were left on his head. Mavis then fell to the ground exhausted with her cheek marks going back to their normal grey color. Dumnorix was the first by her side pulling her up into a sitting position and checked her over as Mavis began asking questions.

"Wha-what happened?"

"We won. Your Dragon rules this group now." Dumnorix looked up and around as Ancalagon now came over to them chittering in concern. "Worry not mighty one, she is simply exhausted." He chittered in relief and nuzzled Mavis with Dumnorix standing up and turning to the cloaked figure. "And who are you to use such pow- Madam?!" The Madam of the Red Dragon pulled down the hood and spoke to the now doubly shocked group.

"Yes it is me; but I am not just a Madam of a Bordello." She stood up straight and addressed the group with the bearing of a noble. "I am Marigold Dragon Matriarch of the fallen House Dragon, and with Mavis truly in command of the Butterfly's wand I and the others in hiding shall hide no more."

* * *

Nacho screeched in panic as he was dragged off the ground in a strong wind throwing him around in the air. Clawing at the air desperately he snagged onto a palm tree and clung with desperation hissing at Cloudy as he stormed over the Diaz household. Star ran outside and began shooting magic at Cloudy trying to do something to him and shouted up to him.

"Cloudy, you're out of control!" Marco poked his head out of the house seeing Star's magic was still the toxic green color.

"Star, I think you're making things worse!" Star ignored Marco's words and shot a particularly powerful blast at Cloudy cutting a hole through the cloud.

"Hey, you damaged MY FLUFFY!" Cloudy spoke with his voice going deep and intimidating as his mouth opened sucking up everything it could.

The house and shed shook under the force of the wind with the joints straining and creaking while nearby trees bent and waved. The palm tree Nacho was on was even uprooted and flung through the yard narrowly missing Star and slammed into the house. Marco leapt out of the house by reflex trying to avoid the tree and the wind began to catch him. As Marco grabbed the ground in desperation Nacho finally lost his grip on the tree and was flung towards Marco screeching in panic. He was flung onto Marco's face and, by reflex, grabbed onto Marco with his claws digging in deeply. Marco grabbed at Nacho losing his grip on the ground with both of them being flung into the sky. As they were sucked up by Cloudy Star saw all this at long last through her annoyance and screamed panicking.

"MARCO!" Her wand suddenly got some of its pinkish glow back with the two colors mixing together.

Star desperately shot up a taloned hand at Marco and Nacho grabbing hold of them and dragging them back to the ground. When the two realized they were safe they looked around in shock seeing Star with her cheek marks glowing white and her eyes a red-veined yellow growling a challenge at Cloudy. She twirled and pointed her wand with the two colors combining and yelled 'Mystic Room Suck Transform!' shooting the beam at Cloudy. When it hit Cloudy a black hole style portal opened up and began sucking Cloudy in like it did to Marco's room once. Cloudy screamed in agony as he was twirled around the portal that instead of just sucking him in seemed to be ripping him apart. As they watched this Nacho glared at Star and hissed at her like he did when the 'dork' spell of corrupted magic was cast on her. Marco thought fast and went to pull out the special comb he kept on him only to find it wasn't there.

'Oh come on really?!' He thought in frustration as he thought of another idea. He rushed over to Star and put his hands on her trying to turn her around to try and snap her out of her state. However all that did was make her uppercut him throwing him back a few feet. As he tried getting back up Marco saw Nacho step between him and Star trying to keep Marco from being hurt. As Marco saw the house and shed were being pulled up by Star's spell Marco began to panic as there was no way to calm Star down at… 'No wait, there may be a way.' He rushed forward past Nacho, who tried to stop him unsuccessfully, and reached out grabbing onto Star's tail. * **EEEP** * Star's voice cut through the whole situation as everything suddenly seemed to stop as if it was hit with a pause button. Wasting no time Marco began rubbing her tail in the manner Star usually did when she was nervous trying to get her to calm down with Star whimpering at the contact. As he did that a car horn sounded with his dad calling out to them.

"Hello kids, we got you ice cream for cleaning the hou…" His father stopped talking as the parents took in the scene going on in front of them.

The magic going on with the green color disappearing and the pink becoming more prevalent with the house, shed, lawn ornaments, and trees being put back into the places they were supposed to go to. The hole in the sky slowly closed up and disappeared with a soft *puff* of energy as if it was never even there. Cloudy slowly turned back to his 'normal' size and turned a bright pink color with purple eyes as he blinked and got his bearings as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep. Nacho blinked in confusion before sniffing the air and relaxing as the green went away sitting next to Star and Marco looking up at them in concern. As Marco continued to rub Star's tail she slowly sank to her knees shivering all over and whimpering with pleasure. As Marco sat down next to her she turned and grabbed onto him holding him so tightly he began to gasp for breath, but he did not let up on the rubbing. After a few seconds more Star gasped a few times in pleasure before her grip loosened considerably to a soft hug and began purring as she held onto Marco.

"Oh Marco." Star moaned in pleasure as she spoke making Marco blush slightly. "Your hands so strong and firm yet so delicate and gentle. *purr* Don't you dare stop rubbing me like that." Marco blushed even more deeply glancing at his parents and Nacho who were right next to them now.

His blush got even worse when he saw all three of them were waggling their eyebrows at him with coy smiles on their faces. Marco wanted to stop at this point but he was afraid of what might happen if he stopped rubbing Star's tail. Caught in his dilemma Cloudy finally got his bearings and began speaking.

"Oh that was strange. What happened while I was out?" Nacho sniffed Cloudy suspiciously before giving him a nod of approval with Marco speaking to Star.

"Say Star, what was going on with your wand? I mean that green magic is a thing with you but this is really weird." Star pulled away and looked up slightly dazed as Marco slowed down his tail rubbing before speaking.

"I… have no idea. I mean I was going through my time of the month and it was worse than usual but… I have no idea why this happened." At this Raphael pulled out a random box of chocolate and handed it to Star.

"Take this, it is my 'time of the month' emergency chocolate box." Everyone looked at him weirdly with Angie speaking up.

"Why do you have that on you?"

"*hehe* In case if your time is a bit unpredictable and/or worse than usual." Angie smiled and giggled as Raphael stood up. "Now I am going to see if everything is broken or not." He went towards the house with Angie speaking up again.

"Star, if you're having trouble with your 'time of the month' and I'm not around just go to Marco, we taught him how to deal with it so he could when he finally got himself a lady friend." Star smiled at that and grabbed onto Marco again smiling broadly as she spoke.

"What else did you train him to do?" Marco's face went deadpan as he butts in.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm viewed as a dog by everyone?" Star immediately reached up and rubbed his fluffy black hair with Marco sighing. "Of course." Star and Angie giggled with Raphael calling out from the house.

"It's not so bad in here honestly; one person could get it done before supper." Everyone smiled and stood up with Star suddenly grimacing slightly.

"Oh gods the cramps, I forgot about the second wave of cramps." She grabbed onto her midsection while Marco held onto her.

"Let's get you inside so you can let this pass comfortably." Star nodded and walked with Marco back inside as Angie and Raphael started cleaning.

As they did so Star set her wand to the side with Nacho sniffing it suspiciously before batting at it with his paw. As he did so a faint green light flashed in the gem that spooked Nacho making him look up at the family again. He didn't know much about the world, but if this was happening to the wand something EVIL was approaching.

* * *

One woman held her hand out with her eyes to the side as she turned her palm towards a Deadly Nadder all the while holding her breath. As she did so the Deadly Nadder closed its eyes relaxing its body and pushed its nose into her hand with a soft chortle. The woman looked up with a sigh of relief as the drake pulls back a few inches and seemed to almost chuckle with amusement. Scenes similar to that was playing out all around the encampment as Forest barbarians of all varieties got acquainted with the drakes and built up trust with them. Aside from a few reluctant warriors, who were dragged up to a drake by their friends, there were no ill feelings between the two groups; and thankfully no casualties. To the side Mavis was practicing with her wand to insure that a last minute save like she had pulled would not need to be pulled again. Of course with no instructor it was going to be a hard and slow process. Ancalagon stood nearby watching his mother do so with great interest in his eyes but glancing at the crowd occasionally to insure his drakes did no one any harm. Dumnorix smiled as he took in this sight and allowed himself to hope, a mad hope but hope none the less, that they can do more than die for past glories now. They could emerge from the shadows like true warriors to fight Moon and her allies head on, and win. His smile faltered a little when he saw Marigold Dragon was organizing a group of people to work on stables for the drakes so they could be properly housed while they stayed here. He knew this confrontation between him and her was inevitable now and had no idea how she would react to the information and questions he had. Heaving a sigh he stepped towards Marigold as she finished up directing the Warriors who were working under her.

"… so that should be all that's needed for now. And be sure to not skimp on the fire retardant materials as we will need to rebuild the whole thing if you do." Everyone nodded and walked off with Marigold spying Dumnorix and smiling. "Ah nice to see you again big boy, what might you need?" Dumnorix looked around a second before speaking to her.

"Can we talk in private, this concerns your family." Marigold blinked in confusion before nodding and going along with him. After moving away a comfortable distance he turned to her with a serious face. "Are you really Marigold Dragon and not just a member of the house of Dragon?" Marigold got an offended look on her face as she replied.

"I do know who I am thank you very much; what next are you going to ask me whether I know I'm a woman or not." Dumnorix sighed heavily at this recognizing the spitfire's voice anywhere.

"What I mean is… are you Selene's mother?" Marigold's face immediately went into shock as she took several seconds to answer.

"Selene? You… met her?" Dumnorix nodded. "Where is she? Is she alright? Did she make it in the world?" She likely would have asked more questions had Dumnorix not held up his hand.

"Well that answers my question. As for yours…" He shifted a bit uncomfortably as he continued. "… we first found her nearly a decade ago demanding for us to take her in so she could fight alongside us." Marigold blinked in shock with a hand over her mouth as he continued. "She trained hard with us and became a rather fearsome warrior, I'm sure you would have been proud of her. However that changed a few months ago when we discovered the Butterfly wand was being kept on earth…" He went into their countless raids against the girl and her guardian cumulating with Selene running off when the wand was destroyed. "… Now I have no idea where she is or even if she is still alive." Marigold stared at him blankly for a solid minute before she sat down and held her head in her hands. "I know this is a lot to take in… but why did you abandon her?" He couldn't keep the accusation out his voice as Marigold closed her eyes as if in great pain.

"I didn't want her to follow me down the path I was going; she deserved a better future then mine." She continued speaking with her head in her hands. "After The War of Moonlight Shadow many nobles were at risk even after the red winter and needed a place to hide. We couldn't go to Moon at this point as she would not return what we had lost and many could not flee to other dimensions at this point as we either had no Dimensional scissors or had lost them. So I started a group to hide them in plain sight so we could continue to live while waiting for a chance to either leave for good or take back what was ours." She looked up at Dumnorix her eyes damp with moisture. "And what better place to hide then as someone everyone overlooks except when some men have a 'need'." Facing Dumnorix head on she spoke softly. "We got nobility to better lives if we could but it's harder to do so then you might think. The easiest ones were the children we could put into new style orphanages to give them a chance for a fresh start with my daughter being no different." Dumnorix tried giving her a hard look but it only came across as pained.

"Detaching your daughter… from the only stability and everything she knew…" Marigold held back a sob as she continued.

"What kind of life would she have led with me?! If she had stayed with me she would have doomed to spend the rest of her life on her back taking strangers dicks just to keep from arousing suspicion!" Dumnorix took a step back at the forcefulness of her words. "And I couldn't just send her off into the woods to fight; it would have been no different from an orphanage except she was more likely to die." At this tears were now flowing freely down her face. "But she went regardless just to look for me after giving her a clean slate. *sob* And now that we have hope again for a real victory *sob* I'm never going to see her again." Dumnorix could not stop himself and put a comforting hand on her shoulder as Marigold sobbed silently.

"My lady Dragon, you will see her again." Marigold looked up in disbelief. "We are attracting the attention of everyone who wishes to see the current ruler unseated and Selene is included in that. She will find us eventually no matter how long it takes. And what's more Mavis has the wand. Do you know about Eclipsa?" Marigold nodded as Dumnorix smiled. "Her chapter is a dark place but there is one spell that can be useful despite its implications, 'The All Seeing Eye'. With it Mavis can look all over to find your daughter if she has not shown herself yet." Marigold sniffed wiping her eyes clear.

"R-really?"

"Why else do you think Selene came to stay with us in the first place?" Dumnorix smiled as Marigold outright grabbed him in a hug sobbing again into his chest.

As they did so one of the whores screamed in shock prompting everyone to look up in confusion to see a Monstrous Nightmare flying around with her on its back. Everyone watched with a mixture of worry and amusement until it landed and shook itself chuckling at the frazzled woman on its back. The woman began laughing after they had landed getting off with the drake affectionately snorting at her. As Dumnorix watched this he noticed Mavis look at them with a look he recognized from the past.

'Our warchief has an idea.'

 **Summer is long gone, storm clouds are gathering as the season of the Dragon is about to commence. But it will be awhile before the storm well and truly breaks, until then let us go back to Star and Marco and see what happens on earth. What you still want more plot and less fluff... how about we compromise then. It will be a bit 'Heinous' for some but it should work with a combination of the two.**


	76. Heinous Pt 1

**Nothing to note here honestly about this chapter so... what am I doing up here again? *stares into space for a second while a fly buzzes by* "Ah whatever, let's get started.**

All was quite in front of the Diaz household with the only thing breaking up the normal décor was a carriage pulled by unicorns parked outside along several cars. The silence was broken however when a car with an oversized knife tied to the front of it cut a portal in midair and dropped down landing on one of the cars. A car alarm sounded for a second before stuttering off with banging coming from inside the car as well as voices.

"Gemini, the door is jammed."

"Let's see if it's unlocked first. *car beeping* No it's unlocked, be right out." Gemini opened the driver side and leapt out of the car running to the other side pulling on the door. "Just give me a moment." He strained against the door for a minute before pulling it open with Ms. Heinous and DuBois's head falling out.

"Ow ow ow, sacré bleu what did you land on?" Gemini got up replying to DuBois's words.

"I think I landed on another car." Heinous stood up adjusting her hair and turned to Gemini.

"How do I look?" Gemini smiled before replying.

"Like you have just stepped out of the salon." Heinous scoffed before fixing her dress and moving to the car's back door.

"A bold faced lie but I'll accept it anyways." She opened the door nodding to DuBois. "This is the correct place yes?"

"I would stake my life on it, if it was still worth anything." Gemini opened the back door reaching in and pulling out something.

"Well no matter." As he spoke Gemini put on what appeared to be a flame-thrower rail-gun combo device he slung over his back. "We will check and if they are there we will wreck our recrimi-ni-ni-ni…"

"Recrimination Gemini, you really need to work on your stutter." Heinous spoke up at Gemini's words as she detached the knife from the car. "Now then, let's get started." She picked up DuBois's head with Gemini chuckling as he approached the door.

"With pleasure." He activated a switch with a bayonet built like a chainsaw emerging and turning on.

* * *

"And this is his first year school photo. Doesn't he look adorable?" Angie held up a photo book with a six year old Marco in a grey sweater vest and red bowtie looking over to the camera on his left side while smiling with no front teeth.

"It warms my heart almost as much as my precious MonStar did at that age." Toffee smiled as he replied to Angie.

Currently Angie, Raphael, Moon, Toffee, and Willow were sitting on couches in the living room going over baby pictures of the two kids. Moon and Toffee were in informal clothing while Willow was in an informal lavender dress with her hair done up in the heart shape of the Butterflys. Angie and Raphael were snuggled up against each other with Moon and Toffee doing the same while everyone had some form of formal alcoholic beverage they were sipping at out of wine and champagne glasses. As Willow used a 'levitato' spell to pour more Champagne for Toffee Moon pulled out another picture of Star showing everyone.

"This is when Star asked if she could join the Guardians of Mewni with her friend Alexis." The image showed a 4 year-old Star and 7 year old Alexis sloppily saluting next to Lily Forest who was also saluting. Lily was doing the salute correctly but was glancing out of the corner of her eye while smiling at the two. "Lily really went out of her way for the two that…" Moon was interrupted by a crashing from outside with a few seconds of a car alarm.

"What was that?" Raphael spoke turning towards the door with everyone looking up in concern. When nothing more happened aside from doors being opened and annoyed people talking to each other, they could not hear the exact words, Raphael and Angie relaxed. "Probably just a fender bender, no biggie. Anyways, did you bring the pictures of when the two were together at age four?" Everyone looked at Willow who pulled out a small book and smiled a mile wide as she spoke.

"Did I ever? I would not dream of coming here without those images." She opened the book showing an image of young Star and Marco sleeping on her dress in a heap as Willow read to them. "I will never forget the book I read to them that day. Odd isn't it how you remem…" Willow was cut off when the sound of a chainsaw started up.

"Is that normal?" Toffee spoke to Raphael and Angie who now had worried looks on their faces as Angie replied.

"No not espe-" Angie was cut off when the chainsaw hit the door and cut it in half in front of their eyes revealing Gemini, Heinous, and Dubois's head with Gemini speaking up.

"Knock knock Marcia." The five adults stared at the trio in silence before Moon spoke up.

"Can we help you?"

* * *

"See I told you they had no candy in them. Parking meters are there to insure people pay when they park in an area." Star grunted in annoyance rubbing her face as they walked home.

"It's such a tease honestly. I know this is something that's 'common knowledge' on earth but they could at least put up stuff like signs to let people know these things." Marco chuckled at Star and looked her up and down again taking in the light turquoise shirt with a purple octopus on the front.

"How many different outfits do you have? I thought your thing was the black dress?" Star giggled at that turning towards Marco.

"Oh I have plenty outfits. I just wore Black dresses because they fel…" Star trailed off as she spied the vehicles parked in front of their house. "Is a car on another car normal?" Marco glanced at the wreck and shook his head.

"Neither is a unicorn pulled carriage." He nodded to the carriage right next to it. They moved onto the lawn hiding behind a cactus and looked at the door which was cut in half and propped back up on the frame. "Ok Star, you go around the back and when you are in position let me know and I'll zerg rush the door." Star nodded and shot out a small oval shaped crystal from her wand to give to Marco before running around the house leaping over the fence effortlessly.

Marco moved in quietly getting onto one side of the door ready to kick it down at a moment's notice. Star slipped around back and crawled up under the windows to the backdoor slipping inside silently before hiding behind a kitchen table. She whispered into her wand with Marco hearing her words through the gem and nodded before they both counted down. '1…2…3!' They both leapt into the living room with Star leaping over the kitchen table and Marco kicking down the door with it shattering to pieces. They saw that in the room Moon, Toffee, Angie, Raphael, and Willow were on couches talking to Heinous, DuBois, and Gemini who were seated in kitchen chairs. The group of adults looked up in shock at the kids entering with Heinous's eyes locking with Marco's. They both immediately glared at each other with Heinous standing up and pointing a finger while shouting at Marco.

"You!"

"You!" Marco returned the gesture with equal loathing.

'Mega Narwhal blast!' Star shot a narwhal at Gemini knocking him down and covering him with a narwhal. Marco leapt at Heinous and knocked her down with the two grappling at each other viciously. 'Wow, she's strong!' Marco thought to himself as he tried to subdue Heinous with the two being equally matched in terms of strength. DuBois jumped up from her chair, somehow, and rolled in Star's direction with Star kicking her to the side effortlessly and into a garbage can. Gemini used the rail-gun attachment to shoot off the narwhal and turned on Star with his weapon ready. As Star raised her wand ready to shoot magic Toffee's voice rang out like a hammer coming down on everyone.

"Enough!" The fight paused as everyone looked at Toffee who was now standing up with his eyes a cat-pupiled yellow similar to Star's when she was fighting. "All of you sit down so we can talk about this like adults." The combatants looked at each other for a second before talking back.

Marco: "She started it!"

Heinous: "He wronged me and I demand recompense!"

DuBois: "They destroyed my body!" The garbage can shook as DuBois spoke.

Gemini: "They invaded our home and place of work!"

Star: "They tried to brainwash me!"

"Enough!" Moon's words made everyone wince and go silent. "You will stop fighting and give us both sides of this conflict so we can resolve this peacefully. This is not up for debate!" As the king and queen glared down at everyone they detached themselves from each other with Marco and Heinous shooting each other a whispered insult.

"Controlling hag."

"Impudent brat." As they sat down Gemini fished DuBois's head out of the garbage and sat down with it on his lap as Toffee spoke.

"Now it is well known how my wife and mother in law are not fans of you Ms. Heinous or St. Olga's School." Moon and Willow nodded with narrowed eyes at Ms. Heinous. "But I will be an impartial judge for whatever happened at St. Olga's School. So Ms. Heinous, give us your side of the story." Willow moved some tea with magic over to Heinous who accepted it with a nod and drank it in perfect fashion before speaking.

"Thank you. Now Gemini, if you would?" Gemini pulled out a small hand held mirror used before flip mirrors were invented and showed images on it. "As many of you know I was the headmistress of the highly acclaimed and illustrious St. Olga's school for Wayward princesses. Here the wildest of royalty are put to learn proper manners and decency needed to become a queen of their nation. We even changed our teaching methods and the content of our classes as times changed around us to properly educate the children." She glanced at Willow and Moon at this one with an annoyed glare in her eyes before continuing. "That changed however the day the princesses Marcia and Star infiltrated our school to rescue a friend of theirs that had been registered by her father, princess Ponyhead." At this Willow spoke up in shock.

"Wait, King Ponyhead sent his daughter to that school?"

"Yes, it wasn't really kept a secret you know." Toffee responded to Willow's words before nodding at Heinous to continue.

"Regardless, the two came into the school and Marcia inspired the students to outright revolt against their elders who knew better. We lost our Tremorfidian crystal as well as most of our peace keepers when the school was trashed beyond easy repair. Marcia left after a short while but the school was never the same afterwards as children continued on her legacy. These actions even spawned a line of Princess Turdina merchandise to influence other princesses to rebel against their elders matching the Princess Moon franchise."

"Wait you have merchandise?" Star interrupted Heinous's presentation with everyone facing Marco with a weird stare as he replied.

"Yeah, they send me a royalty check of $650 every month." *Ahem* Toffee got their attention with a cough and nodded for Heinous to continue.

"Thank you sir. Regardless the children's acts grew worse and worse as I grew weaker and weaker in power. Within a matter of weeks they were skipping class just too party inviting nobility from the school of wayward princes to join them. Eventually they established control over the whole school rendering me obsolete and threw me out along with what employee's I had left." She gestured to Gemini and DuBois as she lowered her mirror. "And now I live in a car." Marco's parents looked at Heinous in concern as Gemini put his hand on Heinous's shoulder with Heinous putting her hand over his as if to thank him for the support. "Now I demand justice for what Turdina and her side kick Star have done to me." The adults looked at Marco in shock with Raphael speaking.

"Is this… all true?" Marco fidgeted a little before answering.

"Well… yeah. But do you even know what's inside of that school? Every horror story Star and I have ever heard is accurate; this was akin to an actual prison and medieval insane asylum. And what's more she strapped Star to a chair by force and tried to brainwash her." Willow immediately turned on Heinous with rage all too evident in her eyes and stood up with purplish magic encircling her as a nimbus of power.

"Is this true?" Toffee immediately put his hand on Willow's shoulder speaking to her softly.

"Easy there mother, we will decide what happens when all is out on the field?" He turned back to Heinous as Willow sat down. "Do answer her question if you will my lady." Heinous sipped her tea for a second before replying.

"My dears, Star willing let herself be captured and willing let us use our last resort method of her own free will." Everyone murmured in shock with Marco speaking up.

"That is a bold faced lie!" Toffee fixed Marco with a glare making him sit down with Heinous chuckling.

"Are you so sure about that?" She nodded to Star with everyone turning towards her. Star looked at everyone for a second nervously before grabbing onto her tail and rubbing it and casting her face down to the floor. Everyone's faces took on a shocked look of horror as Heinous smiled. "She realized what a burden she was on all of you by being the way she is and wished to be refashioned to become a proper princess; as is necessary." Moon spoke up at this with shocked horror in her voice.

"Is… this true?" Star didn't look up as she replied.

"People want me dead simply because of who I am mom. At the time… I thought that I could become someone you didn't need to protect." Moon couldn't hold herself back and came over to her daughter embracing her in a hug as Star cried silently. "I'm over that now but… you do see how it could be better with me this way… right?" Toffee smiled sadly and rubbed Star's head speaking to her.

"Star… you're perfect the way you are; never stop believing that." At this he cleared his throat and sat back down facing Heinous. "Is that everything?" Heinous nodded as Moon went back to her seat somewhat reluctantly. "Despite the actions you have committed the children did break and enter your facility, broke out a child sent there to be reformed, severely damaged your work place and home, and cost you your livelihood. I do believe recompense is in fact in order." Marco shouted up at that.

"Wait WHAT!?" Willow spoke to Toffee as well.

"You are honestly giving her recompense after what she did to so many princesses including me and your own daughter?" Toffee sighed as he replied.

"The actions before this event should not be taken into account if we wish for fair justice over what has happened. And as much as it pains me to say this Star did submit herself, at least somewhat of her own choice, to the device you were put through; I cannot hold that over Heinous as much as I wish to. Justice should only be lightly tempered with emotions, not ruled by them." Willow stared at him flabbergasted with his reply and went to speak before being cut off by Moon.

"He's… right mother." Everyone looked at Moon in shock, including Heinous. "Justice should not be based off of emotions or events previous to the circumstance unless if they directly affect the crime in some way." It looked like Moon had a blade pushed into her gut as she spoke these words but she said them without remorse. "As much as I look down on Heinous she deserves justice just like everyone else." Heinous sat in shock for a minute before a smirk played across her face as she spoke up.

"Even Moon the Undaunted is agreeing to this? I thought I'd never see the day you acted like a proper queen." Moon kept herself composed looking down as Heinous set her tea glass down carefully and stood up. "The punishment should be commensurate with the crime. How about we… annihilate princess Turdina and display her skeleton as a warning against any further insurrection."

"NO!" Everyone looked at Star as she leapt up shooting green magic at Heinous slamming her into a wall making it crack. "You won't take my Marco!" Before Star could fire another shot however Toffee leapt up and snatched Star's wand out her hand before Moon used magic to push Star back into her seat.

"Star, compose yourself." Toffee spoke in a monotone manner with Moon letting go of Star but keeping ready should Star leap up again. After a few seconds of tense silence, where Heinous got up and limped back to her seat, Star began crying and grabbed onto Marco so tightly his joints creaked and he groaned in pain.

"Please don't let her do it daddy, please!" As Marco gasped for breath Toffee sat back down addressing Heinous.

"You are right the punishment should be commensurate with the crime; which is why I won't let you do it." Heinous gaped in shock as Star sighed in relief releasing Marco. "You have been wronged yes but death is not commensurate with the crime." Heinous glared at him replying with a dark tone of voice.

"That princess destroyed everything I have preserved since the illustrious St. Olga passed on. She has besmirched the name of a school that has been providing for many nations across the multi-verse for centuries. This punishment IS commensurate with the crime!" Toffee folded his arms giving Heinous a look that said he wasn't backing down on this. "Fine, well what would you…"

"Excuse me?" Everyone looked up to the destroyed door to see a police officer standing there. "Is this 4815 Avocado Terrace?" Everyone looked at each other a moment before Raphael spoke up.

"Yes. Is this a noise complaint by any chance? Because if so we're trying to keep it down but tensions are high in here." At this Star and Marco as well as Heinous's trio started speaking all at once.

Marco: "This lady is an oppressive dictator who wants to kill me!"

Heinous: "They are not giving me proper recompense for crimes committed!"

DuBois: "They destroyed my body!"

Gemini: "We are being denied justice!"

Star: "They want to kill my Marco!" The police officer held up his hand calming everyone down.

"Alright alright people no need for heated words. This is a lot to take in but if everyone remains calm I'm sure we can clear all this up right now." Marco and Heinous shot each other poisoned looks as the officer spoke.

* * *

Outside everyone is gathered up looking at Heinous's car parked on top of the wrecked car with a sizable crowd gathered around a little ways off. The officer rubs his chin and speaks up to the group that was inside of the house.

"Well I got called about a vehicle being double parked but since the wheels are not on the ground I think it's out of my jurisdiction." Toffee face palmed at this speaking up.

"What kind of slacking law enforcement officials do you humans have?" Angie spoke up at this with a look of exasperation on her face.

"Not entirely sure myself at times." The officer spoke up at this.

"Hey I'm just trying to not break any regulations myself right now, balance of power and all that. I will see if this is in my jurisdiction or not and if the car is still here when I come back then I will deal with it. Whoever owns this vehicle I still strongly suggest you move it. If another crime is being committed be sure to give me a call." He walked off with everyone turning to go back inside.

"Well that was a pointless distraction." Moon's words made Raphael nod with Star speaking up to Marco.

"You think something interesting would happen, like our friends getting involved in this you know." In the sizable crowd Oskar spoke up annoyed.

"But we're right here man." When Star didn't notice him, Ferguson, Starfan13, Jackie, Janna, Chloe, Floyd, and Alfonzo standing there Starfan13 spoke up.

"Should we try to get her attention?" Janna replied to that.

"No, we're just a brief cameo to make this scene interesting and surreal. Let's let the plot move along." Everyone watched Janna as she walked away with eyes falling on Ferguson.

"She does that at times including before we started dating. I think she's always been like this." As the group walked off Jackie commenting.

"I'm kind of surprised everyone in house noticed the vehicles but not Floyd." The bird squawked in agreement as the group moved along.


	77. Heinous Pt 2

**OM: It's time for a new segment of our 'Intersperced among the story show'...**

 **Audience: GUEST REVIEWS!**

 **WH: That's right people, I have not truly responded to guest reviews in the past as I have never had so many I had to, just responding via private messages to those who had profiles who commented. But now I think it's time I addressed these people properly. Now then, let us begin...**

 **MS. O.M.G: If you are still reading this... it's because I actually like what I've done with MoonxToffee; everyone is entitled to their own ship you know.**

 **Sugar: I should have gotten back to you a LONG time ago. Thank you for helping me by being unrelenting when it comes down to pointing out any flaws so I could fix them. And thank you for commenting when it was just stuff you liked, I love it when you do that. ;)**

 **The Book of Eli: All your comments are telling me I am doing something similar to one thing I loved about season two, the air of fear that was built up around the overarching story. YES, I am a good writer! I will keep responding to you man. ;)**

 **Victoria Coorts: Yes you can translate this to Russian, just be sure to let people know where you got it from. ;)**

 **Unnamed** **1: Thank you for the praise man, I try to make it so EVERY character mentioned by name as a role to play that is more then 'background'. As for your refrence request... I have never watched 'Regular Show' but Gods damned it I'm gonna watch it just to find you a** **reference if you like my work that much. :3**

 **Unnamed** **2(potentially the same as Unnamed 1): You are assuming that inter** **dimensional** **law or Mewman law is the same as earth law, big mistake. And even if it was Marco and Star could be held accountable for** _ **breaking and entering, kidnapping(princess Ponyhead), assault and battery, damaging property, second degree murder(of robots), terrorism, reckless endangerment,**_ **and a slew of lesser crimes. Moon and Toffee would NOT want this going to court in the slightest despite the fact that Marco and Star are minors on earth. Oh and on Mewni, just a little world building, a 'minor' is someone age 12 or under. I will cover that later in story but a little peak for those of you who bothered to read these responses when they did not apply to you.**

 **SN: And now back to the story.**

Everyone was inside with Star's and Marco's parents opposite of Heinous with everyone else sitting to the side watching their debate with varying degrees of interest. Gemini and DuBois were excited, Willow and Star were worried with Star holding onto Marco softly, and Marco was just annoyed over what was happening.

"Let the bargaining for the proper punishment begin as I will not be leaving until we reach a suitable agreement." Heinous folded her arms and smiled evilly. "I propose we rip out Marcia's spine so I can wear it as a fancy scarf. And yes I know for sure we can do that without killing her." Marco's parents looked at each other nervously with Toffee going to speak up with Raphael cut him off.

"Um ok, that still seems a little extreme." Angie turned towards Marco's parents speaking to them.

"Can you actually do that and keep a person alive?" Moon nodded as she answered cutting off Toffee who had also gone to answer.

"It's possible but the procedure is rather painful and it leaves the person permanently disfigured to the point where they are unable to even sit up on their own so I'm going to have to protest this." Toffee nodded and went to speak but Raphael interrupted him.

"What if we ground Marco for a week… no a month?" Heinous scoffed at that replying.

"Or you could let me grind the bones of her extremities into a paste and use them to make fancy pastries." Toffee went to speak again but Angie spoke up at that.

"We could keep him from playing video games." Toffee went to speak again but Heinous growled standing up to face Marco's parents.

"Do you even know what bargaining means?" Toffee sighed in annoyance and went to speak again but Angie spoke up again.

"We could keep Marco and Star from sleeping together and cuddling?"

"NO!" Everyone looked at Star again seeing her grabbing onto Marco with a painful tightness once again. Once she realized what she had done she let go of Marco who gasped for air as she shyly looked down. "I-I'm sorry, I won't interrupt again." Toffee went to speak again with Heinous cutting him off again.

"You should really be more concerned about your daughters finding suitable men for themselves instead of focusing on other women so they can provide you heirs to your kingdoms." The parents all looked at each other in confusion as Marco thought to himself 'Of course she's one of THOSE types of people?' Toffee went to speak again but was cut off by Raphael leaving him visibly annoyed.

"We could make him do all the household chores in addition to our previously suggested punishments…"

"WHAT IF I JUST APOLOGIZED!?" Marco stood up and threw his hands in the air in exasperation with everyone blinking in shock for a few seconds before Toffee went to reply but was cut off by Heinous.

"An apology…" Toffee rolled his eyes as she rubbed her chin for a second before chuckling and smiling. "Yes that actually will suffice to be completely honest… under certain circumstances of course." Marco sighed and went to respond but was interrupted by Willow.

"Marco don't give up that easily to her demands, you don't know what she will want." Marco sighed again and responded.

"Toffee said I needed to give her recompense and that is what I'm going to do at this point, so long as it doesn't kill or permanently maim me." He turned back to Heinous. "Whatever you want Heinous, just name it so you can get out of here."

* * *

"Why did I say whatever you wanted?"

Marco was sitting on the couch wearing his Turdina outfit with his hair extended and in a ponytail while holding a sign saying 'It is criminal to be an individual.' The parents were looking at Marco in shocked confusion with Star looking somewhat relived over the fact that Marco wasn't going to be hurt. Gemini was setting up a video camera to record Marco's 'apology' for others to hear. Heinous was giggling with glee at the image of Marco holding up the sign with DuBois accompanying her in Heinous's arms.

"This is real, it's finally happening." Heinous giggled some more before continuing. "Wait till these princesses see their idol now." The parents looked at each other in confused concern with Raphael speaking up.

"Our son led a revolution and we never even knew about it; I don't' know what to think of this." Willow shrugged her shoulders as she responded.

"Well he'll fit right in with some of our family that's for sure." As the camera was readied Moon stepped forward holding up her hand.

"Hold up everyone, Marcia needs her blush. A princess can't go on camera properly without her blush now can she?" She sat down next to Marco with Toffee speaking up at this.

"Since when has that mattered to… oh nevermind just ignore me like everyone else has during these negotiations." He rolled his eyes as Moon whispered to Marco as she put makeup on his face.

"I know you need to make amends here… but are you really ok with this? I know that many princesses are looking up to you like they look up to me and this could ruin them." Marco smiled calmly at Moon as he replied.

"I know they look up to me, which is why I know this video will not impact them in the slightest. After what I've heard and seen about rebel princesses," He nodded at Moon. "I know it's gonna take more than this to break their spirits."

"Oh Marco…." Moon smiled slightly at his words.

"So how do I look?" Moon chuckled at his words slightly before standing up and moving away.

"Super pretty, you make a decent princess." Heinous rolled her eyes as Moon moved away speaking up.

"Enough dilly dallying let's get on with it. Gemini is that camera ready yet?" He nodded getting into a recording position.

"Yes mi lady. And… we're rolling." He pushed a button with the camera recording.

"*Ahem* Yo girls of the multiverse, it's your home girl Marcia. Wassup!" He put one of his hands in a peace sign smiling at the camera. "Anyways, I have a confession to make." He put his hand back into holding up the sign with his face falling. "Last time I was at St. Olga's I said and did some stuff that I shouldn't have, which is actually pretty bad. So I just wanted to say…" He glanced over at his group before giving a small smile with his tone of voice changing to light sarcasm. "… that I'm like super sorry for everything, and I mean like everything. I mean what was I thinking doing all that idiotic nonsense like even thinking in the first place? Rising up against our oppressors and expressing individuality *pah* that's like not the way we should do things. Why do we even have stuff like dreams to fulfill in the first place as that's like totally not a princess thing to do in the first place. And I'm also like totally saying this from the bottom of my heart and not doing this simply because Heinous is threatening me with some sort of lawsuit or threat to life and limb." He then put a thumb up winking at the camera. "Peace out girlfriends." His look changed to one of exasperation as he turned towards Heinous. "Ok did I do good or do we need to do this again?" Heinous giggled psychotically with one of her eyes twitching as Gemini shut off the camera and spoke up.

"Ms. Heinous I have notes." Heinous burst into laughter as she spoke up.

"Oh it's perfect, perfect!"

* * *

Gemini loaded up the car with Toffee speaking to Heinous on the side.

"That completes this matter of recompense. Our obligation to repay you has been fulfilled and any further seeking of recompense is null and void." Angie spoke up at this nervously.

"I hope this means that we can all get a fresh new start from this situation without any more grudges right?" Heinous looked at the parents before turning her eyes to the cassette she had of Marco's recording and smiled.

"We shall see. If anything has been accomplished here I hope you realize what exactly your daughter Marcia has been doing and take a more active role in her life." At this Raphael spoke up.

"Um we have a son not a daughter and his name is Marco not Marcia. And he is not royalty we are just an ordinary family." Heinous froze as she was turning around and looked at them wide eyed before replying.

"You mean… Marci-Marco is not a princess or even a girl?" Everyone nodded with Willow speaking up.

"We were wondering when you would eventually catch on with the way we addressed Marco as a him at times. Also I get many women are dressing like men these days but I thought you would at least raise a question at his clothing choices and hair style if you thought he was a girl." Heinous stood slack jawed as Willow spoke to everyone else. "Let's go, I think we need to talk with the children." Everyone went back inside but Toffee stopped on the door step in insure Heinous was going… and froze in mid step.

Heinous was looking through the window at Marco who was still in his Turdina outfit with a strange look of childishly pure awe. She spoke so softly he almost didn't catch her words but she said "Marcia's a boy?" Her face then contorted into one of the creepiest smiles he had ever seen as she continued staring at Marco intently. As she did so he saw for a brief moment a flash of white from her cheeks showing club marks through a layer of some sort of makeup. "Marco's a boy." She then licked her lips ever so slightly in desire as her eye twitched before she giggled in such a way that, while Toffee was a Septarian and didn't faze or even feel easily, made him fell a very human chill of fear run up his spine. Heinous then seemed to pull herself together before getting back into her car with it flying up into the sky and, using the dagger that was reattached to the front, cut a hole allowing it to fly into another dimension. Toffee put these thoughts away for later as he walked back inside to see the other adults questioning the children. Star and Marco were standing in the living room looking worried and guilty as Raphael was speaking to them.

"So let me get this straight; you two broke into a finishing school, sought to break out someone who had been sent there to be reformed, led a revolution, destroyed said school, and cost that woman her livelihood and home?" Star and Marco looked at each other nervously with Marco speaking up.

"Well… it was mostly me but… yeah." Angie and Raphael looked at each other in concern with Toffee going to speak…

"I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!" Everyone looked at Moon in shock as she ran in grabbing Marco and pulling him off the ground in a hug comparable to Star's. "You are a leader who knows when to do what's right instead of just what's proper. Take my kingdom, take my daughter, take my family name, and give me lots and lots of grandbabies my son I never had!" Angie, Raphael, and Willow looked at each other with shocked looks bearing nervous smiles and Toffee went to speak again but was cut off by Star.

"MOM!" Star yelled out with her face going a brilliant crimson. "Don't do that!" *AHEM* Everyone looked at Toffee whose annoyance was all too clear.

"If you would all stop cutting me off like you did during the negotiations that would be much appreciated." Everyone looked at him in shock with Toffee's look turning Monotone again. "Regardless what you two did… my shining Moon could you put him down now?" Moon put Marco down sheepishly as Marco caught his breath. "Thank you. Now then." He faced the children. "You do realize the seriousness of your actions by going against St. Olga's School for Wayward Princesses?" Marco and Star nodded hesitantly. "That school has had quite a bit of support over the centuries by many nobles across many dimensions. Even with the actions of what Ms. Heinous and her predecessors had done being exposed many nobles still supported her saying that the school should simply reform and refine its methods. If other nobles realize who Princess Turdina is and what 'she' has accomplished I have no doubt some would come after you two." The two looked at each other nervously as Toffee continued. "And what's more your actions were by no means legal or safe and constituted a sizable chunk of uncalculated recklessness. Because of this we will collectively find a punishment for you that hopefully will teach you to not be so reckless and unchained." Star and Marco dropped their heads sadly. "Until then… well done." They both looked up in shock again at Toffee's lopsided grin. "Standing up for what you view as moral righteousness is important in an individual and more important for a monarch; though it should be tempered with logic." Willow chuckled at that speaking up.

"That's why Moon and Toffee go together so well, he is the logic and she is the moral righteousness." Moon and Toffee then gave each other a small kiss with Angie speaking up.

"Regardless anything else cosmically related that we should know about?" Marco and Star glanced at each other nervously before Angie gave a knowing smile to them. "Well we will be spending a lot of time talking about everything it seems. Ms. Heinous also did have a point in us getting more involved in our children's lives. I say we spend the rest of the afternoon and evening as a family night with board games and charades." Everyone cheered at that with Star speaking up.

"So we're playing 'Settlers of Catan' right?" Everyone nodded with Star smiling and pumping her fist in victory. "Yes."

* * *

The family was playing 'Settlers of Catan' with Star and Toffee shrewdly competing for the top position while everyone else tried to keep going as best as possible. 'Man Toffee is good at these things.' Marco thought in shock as Toffee expanded his army gaining the largest army card bumping his points to 11. Star gritted her teeth in frustration as her point value was 9 and the first person to reach ten was the winner. Toffee chuckled and rubbed Star's head with Willow standing up and speaking.

"Well you lot can continue playing, I need to get dinner ready." At this Star's eyes went wide as she spoke reverently.

"Grandma's personally cooking?" Star gave a small squee of joy with everyone chuckling. "You go join her Marco!" Marco blinked in shock as he gazed around the room.

"Um…"

"Well come on then dearie, let's have some fun." Willow hooked her arm with Marco's dragging him into the kitchen with everyone still chuckling. "So Marco, I've heard from my granddaughter that you are quite the chef." Marco chuckled and rubbed the back of his head while blushing slightly.

"Well sort of yeah but nothing spectacular. I mean I'm no Gorden Ramsey." Willow chuckled as she used magic to get out cooking utensils.

"Well perhaps I should teach you so that you are akin to this 'Gorden Ramsey' of earth." Marco blinked in confusion with Willow chuckling. "Despite being a queen I am quite the chef running the royal kitchens as my main job, unfortunately not personally cooking as often as I would like. Although perhaps I should show you how good I am instead of just tell you." She pulled out a cook book she had on her… somewhere and opened it up. "Let's see what we can do…"

 **SN: One cheerful and adorable cooking scene later.**

Willow and Marco were finishing their last item, a pie, while they sing a song in unison as they put a Butterfly on the top for decoration.

"Over under around and through, grab the little Mewni rabbit pull him through.

Pinch it and fold it and tie it in a bow, like two little bunny ears made out of dough

Over and under wherever you roam, sweet little Mewni rabbit hop back home."

As they finished it up Willow levitated the pie to the oven putting it in and altered the temperature with magic so it was baked properly. Willow sighed contently with Marco speaking up with an impressed tone.

"Wow you are… really good at this. I mean I know how to cook but damn." Willow chuckled and replied happily.

"Well cooking is my main passion in life; it's so nice to finally have a fellow chef to cook with on a personal level." She pinched Marco's cheek with him blushing slightly. "Toffee only showed a passable talent for it, Star could burn water unfortunately…" The two chuckled at that. "… and Moon…" Her smile flickered slightly at this before the smile reappeared. " … well she was and is too busy being queen and what not to spend time on this. I got reacquainted with my arts when Moon ascended as queen as I had neglected them when I became queen unfortunately. So much can be overlooked when you are queen; honestly Moon does a better job than I ever did." Marco heard the sad tones in her voice and, after a bit of internal debating, decided to speak up.

"Willow, do you need to get something off your chest?" Willow looked at him questioningly. "I mean I served as Star's therapist at one point so I can help you." Willow smiled sadly before sitting down so she was of equal head height with him.

"No nothing like that, just some bad memories mostly being my fault. You… know of the war of Moonlight Shadow right?"

"Well yea… oooohhhhh." Marco remembered who he was talking to and the fact that she was one of the bad guys in the war, instantly becoming really uncomfortable.

"Well my actions were my fault and… not my fault. I was tricked into willingly going to St. Olga's where they… well…" She rubbed her shoulder as Marco nodded sympathetically. "They made me believe that what happened in there was necessary to become a good queen for the future. I fell for it hook line and sinker and became… someone else for a while; someone who was not necessarily a good person. I could have tried returning back to myself at any time but I didn't want to belive my time at the school was wasted pain and effort and many people kept on telling me I was doing good, especially my sister Etheria. *sigh* And well… it took me a while to finally pull myself out but I did, only after a civil war occurred though and my daughter proved herself a strong capable leader." Willow looked down sadly about to continue but perked up as suddenly Marco hugged her from the side.

"Hey, from what I've heard from Star you made bad choices because other people toyed with you like a puppet, so what? You pulled through in the end didn't you?" Marco looked up at Willow still hugging her. "As far as I'm concerned you're a good person… grandma." Willow smiled with tears coming to her eyes as she hugged him back.

"Oh my dear child *sniff* I can see why Star loves you so much." They sat that way for several minutes before a timer went off. "Oh that's the quiche, come on." She and Marco got up warmed by the moment of bonding as they got back to cooking.

* * *

"There you are mi lady, all fluffed up just how you like it." Gemini put the pillow behind Heinous's head as she laid in the back seat of the car.

"Thank you Gemini, what would I do without you?" She reached up and rubbed his head. "Now go get some sleep yourself, and that's an order." Gemini closed the door and ran off with DuBois's head to the trunk.

As he got to the back he looked around the landscape they were in and marveled at how scenic and yet how barren it looked. He sighed as he opened the trunk as DuBois's head spoke up from within.

"So, is the master in good shape?" He sighed again as he got inside.

"Not especially. I overheard that Marcia is in fact not a princess and not even a girl with his name being Marco. That itself was shocking but the mistress's reaction was…" He fidgeted a little. "… not heartening to say the least. I worry for her you know." DuBois did the equivalent of nodding before replying.

"We must keep an eye on her but NOT dissuade her goal of revenge, we must still keep going. They will pay for destroying my temple of a body." She fumed for a second before calming down. "But we must be patient and smart about this. Good night." She shut down as Gemini looked at her head.

"Goodnight DuBois." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a princess doll. "And good night to you. I don't care who or what you are, to me you are Marcia Turdina the fairest in the land; after Ms. Heinous of course." He put the doll away before giving out a sigh of worry before closing the trunk lid. Heinous on the other wand was removing the makeup covering her marks and giggling and speaking to herself.

"Oh Marco you are one interesting BOY." She giggled finishing up her removal revealing her cheek marks. "The things I could do if I subdued you. Oh the things I could do." She then looked out the window seeing his face flash by in her mind; that cute mole, fluffy black hair, his feminine features, the strength when he went to grapple her, the smell of some sort of watermelon shampoo. She began feeling emotions she had never felt before and that a proper lady should never feel. "Oh the things I could do when I. Make. Him. MINE!" Her cheek marks glowed white ever so briefly framing a face that was clearly losing its sanity. She then smacked herself with her cheek marks fading speaking more properly. "Hold yourself together, he is still your enemy no matter what and must be destroyed. Also you are a proper lady and must not give into such improper base desires." She harrumphed and closed her eyes going to sleep with conflicted and maddening thoughts haunting her.

 **WH: In case if any of you have been wondering yes the writing style of this story has changed ever so slightly from when I started around a year ago. This is just happening because, despite how it may appear, this AU is really a test run for me to figure out what my writing style is; yes even after nearly two years from when 'A Tale of Moon and Monsters' came out. Why am I saying this... not really sure, just thought I'd say it.**

 **Janna: Um you're forgetting something.**

 **WH: Oh right. Get ready for things to get a little weird and wild as Echo Creek is about to be 'Starstruck' with a certain individual. *also, sorry if the tonal shifts in this chapter were too great at times, that's just how it comes out at times. It seemed fine to me at the time.***


	78. Starstruck Pt 1

**SN: Hippie, come out and post your chapter already we don't have all day.**

 **Janna: I'm telling you man, he's got a few screws loose.**

 **WH: Indeed I do. *Everyone jumps in shock as I came out of nowhere.***

 **OM: Where did you come from?**

 **WH: Blame my parents people. Enjoy the episode.**

The back door to the doughnut shop opened with a man coming out hauling a large bag filled with something that bore an attractive odor and threw it into the dumpster while whistling. As he turned around to go back inside he noticed Star was sitting not too far away reading 'To Kill A Mocking Bird' while holding onto a leash attached to Cloudy. Star seemed invested in her book while cloudy was humming to himself softly with a tune that sounded familiar for some reason. The man stared at them a minute until Star looked up at him confused prompting the man to shrug and walk back into the shop.

 **The Pink Panther Theme Song (Original Version) ( watch?v=9OPc7MRm4Y8)**

Star took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching her and, upon seeing no one, smiled and put her book away. Taking a strange dancing hop like step she moved over to the dumpsters while licking her lips showing off her long tongue. She pulled Cloudy over one of the Dumpsters and sent a short blast of energy from her wand into the cloud making Marco fall into the dumpster with a soft oof. She stood by the edge of the dumpster waiting while Marco got the bag and climbed back up and jumped into Cloudy who gave off a soft laughter like it tickled. Star then casually leapt onto Cloudy's back and flew Cloudy a short distance away to the edge of the park parking him down and after she leapt out she spoke up.

"We're safe Marco you can come out now." Marco came out of Cloudy carrying the large bag and opened it up smiling.

"When will they learn that they never sell enough doughnuts on Sundays? Doesn't matter though, the more they don't sell the more day old doughnuts for us." Star looked in with big eyes and she practically drooled over the doughnuts. "Thanks for the cover by the way; me, Ferguson, and Oskar can't go near the back of the shop anymore without them calling the cops." Star reached in and pulled out a jelly filled snapping a bit into it before replying. **(end music)**

"Well all it takes is one bad day and getting caught scavenging doughnuts once in order to make life more difficult. Interesting the types of dates we go on huh?" She swallowed her bite with Marco eating a bit of a chocolate doughnut.

"Well Ferguson and Oskar were out on this one so yeah; it kind of does make it a date. Wouldn't our parents be pissed that we are pulling a Bonnie and Clyde." Star chuckled at that with Marco raising an eyebrow. "You got that reference?" Star nodded and pulled out a long doughnut filled with cream sticking it in her mouth like a cigar.

"Your dad told me about them. If are out like them how about a photo to commemorate it and show off to my mom in the future; she would laugh her ass off." Marco nodded and pulled out his phone giving to Star allowing her to snap a picture of him kissing her cheek while she 'smoked' her doughnut.

A shuffling sound behind them got the two to turn around and see that someone was trying to steal their stolen doughnuts that had been thrown away. The figure appeared to be a woman who was scrawny and dirty with pale skin, turquoise/blue eyes that had bags under them, and long purple hair done up in a sailor Moon style with pigtails hanging to her ankles. Her clothes were dirty and ragged consisting of a purple boot on her left foot, a turquoise skirt, a mostly ripped up turquoise shirt with the image of a cat's head on it, a purple bow on her neck, white shoulder length gloves, and a helmet with a single spike coming out of the top. As they watched she ate one of the doughnuts as if she was starving before noticing them and promptly stuffed two doughnuts in her mouth before picking up their bag.

"Hey, those are our doughnuts Sailor hobo!" Marco leapt at the mystery woman grabbing onto the bag and trying to yank it from her.

"*Grrr* You can't eat them all by yourselves, I was staking out that shop for days!" The woman answered him refusing to let go engaging them in a game of tug-o-war as he replied.

"Well finders keepers, get your own doughnuts!" The two pulled back and forth for a second before Star spoke up.

"Mina Loveberry?" At this the woman froze in shock yelling at the top of her lungs.

"I've been discovered! Evasive maneuvers!" She twirled in a circle ripping the bag of doughnuts open spilling many over the ground before back flipping like she was in a gymnastics tournament. As she did that she scooped up several of the doughnuts and leapt up into a tree before making squirrel noises and nibbling on the doughnuts she had taken. "*squirrel noises* Nothing to see, I am only a squirrel." She continued nibbling while Marco looked at how half the bag had been spilled over the ground before speaking.

"*Sigh* Well at least I saved most of them." He now turned to Star who had an awestruck look on her face as she stared up at the woman. "Why didn't you help me wrestle the doughnuts back, and who is this Mina Loveberry you suddenly spoke about?" Star pointed up to the woman in the tree before replying.

"That's her, Mina Loveberry; one of the greatest warriors Mewni has ever seen!" Marco blinked in confusion looking back and forth between the two. "Or at least I think that's her. Dad said she was struck with a curse by the Shadow Clause and ran off into the woods screaming about becoming queen of the dolphins to save Foriosae from the mud people or something like that." Marco looked up at Mina scratching his chin in thought.

"The greatest warrior Mewni has ever had?" Star shrugged before replying.

"Supposedly. She was once a peasant girl who was one of 100, or maybe 1,000, who were given powers of war by… Solaria the Monster Carver…" Star shuddered at the sound of the queen's name. "… during the Fire and Bone Wars between Mewmans and Monsters centuries ago. These 'Solarian Warriors' however were severely decimated during those wars and when the method for making them was lost somewhere in the book of spells Crescenta the Eager had them train the current elite defensive force, The Guardians of Mewni. Mina supposedly was put into a commanding position of these guys at one point until she 'lost it' during The War of Moonlight Shadow." She looked up at Mina who was now looking through a doughnut like a spyglass. "My parents spoke very highly of her, especially Dad, but I think she's still lost her marbles at this point, perhaps we should just grab the doughnuts we can and … Marco?" She looked around for a second seeing Marco had scooped up the doughnuts that had spilled on the ground and was climbing the tree to get to Mina. "Wha… Marco get down from there, you don't know where she's been!" Marco moved onto the branch Mina was on with Mina suddenly leaping into another tree like a squirrel with Marco following her at first be tree but then by foot. "Marco you're not Alice, don't chase rabbits down rabbit holes… seriously it's like I'm talking to a five year old!" Star went to chase him but stopped before going back to gather up the remaining doughnuts and tied the bag up as best as possible before following them.

Marco moved as fast as he could to follow Mina but she did seem to know exactly what she was doing as she leapt through the trees like a squirrel. Marco however did not let up and continued chasing her until they got out of the trees into the main portion of the park. Mina immediately leapt down from the trees and looked around with a doughnut in mouth before sniffing the air. As Marco got close again Mina made a chittering noise like a squirrel and faced him shaking her rear in the way a squirrel's tail would twitch before he spoke.

"Um… you wouldn't happen to be Mina Loveberry would you? I mean I heard you were her but are you really the greatest warrior Mewni ever had?" Mina stared at him a second before speaking up through the doughnut.

"You caught me; I am the almighty Mina Loveberry that you seem to be seeking. Are you a cop?" She swallowed the doughnut in her mouth before standing up.

"So what are you doing on earth?" Mina stared at him suspiciously as she ate another doughnut before her face went calm and she replied.

"On vacation, doctor's orders. He said I needed a change in scenario and sent me here on vacation. While I was at it my inner soul decided to study these creatures known as humans, and I am not one to deny my inner soul. Interesting creatures really, so different from Mewmans and yet almost the same in others; it's almost like we were built by Gods who were copying each other's homework." She then pushed her face in close to Marco with another suspicious look. "So why are you following me? Do you intend to tell the remnants of those mud-folk that I am here so they can exact their revenge?" Marco shook his head violently before replying.

"Oh nononononono, I just want to train under you." Mina blinked in confusion pulling back as Marco smacked his forehead. "Dangit, I wanted to present it in a better manner but…"

"So you are asking me if I could train you? Me the last and greatest of the Solarian warriors and the entity who trained the Guardians of Mewni themselves, she who took down 50 men in half as many minutes in one battle just on a bet?" Marco looked up as she moved in close again getting a crazed look in her eyes. "And what makes you think you are worthy to learn from me?" Marco rubbed the back of his head as he began talking.

"Well I have a black belt in karate, I beaten down multiple baddies in the past, I've killed several shadows…" At this Mina immediately perked up smiling.

"Oh you killed shadows, without magic and at such a young age?!" She grabbed Marco's hand shaking it up and down violently with a massive smile on her face. "Consider it a done deal Shadow pecker… killer… slaughter… carver…"

"How about slayer?" Mina practically sqeed in joy and hugged Marco tightly making him gag at how she smelled before she pulled back with a serious look on her face.

"But be warned I didn't become the greatest warrior by being half-assed so you are gonna need to push forward everything you got boy. Let's go!" She dragged Marco with her as Star came out of the woods at last seeing them run off before speaking up.

"Seriously what is Marco thinking by getting involved in crazy like that? *groan* Might as well accompany him and make sure he doesn't get hurt by her." She munched on a doughnut as she followed the two to a mud pit.

"Today at the Echo Creek thermal mudpits I will be answering all your questions about mud and what amazing creatures potentially walked through them." A Park Ranger talked to a group of tourists and Mina led Marco who was now running alongside her to the mud pits speaking softly.

"I'm with one of the greatest warriors of Mewni has ever seen and she is training me to be just like her." Marco smiled a mile wide at the thoughts going through his mind. 'So what if Star says she's crazy, half the people from Mewni are crazy far as I can tell. I'm gonna learn all she has to teach me and use it to become a better warrior…' His thoughts were interrupted when Mina led him into the mudpits. "Ah hold on a second… is this the first lesson?" Mina looked towards him with a serious look on her face as she replied.

"Well yes ya ding dong. The first lesson to becoming a good warrior is to empty your mind of all thought, especially when in action." She walked into the mud and pulled some up smoothing it on her cheeks with Marco blinking in confusion before replying.

"So just… don't think?" Mina turned towards him going wide eyed as she replied.

"No thinking, if it helps try just feeling without thought." Marco had doubts but pushed them aside as he smoothed mud over his cheeks and tried just feeling and not thinking; even throwing in some practices he had learned from medita… 'Wait, already?!' He thought in confusion as his mind went blank.

"I… feel it already. While not as effective it's far quicker than meditation!" Mina pushed her finger onto his nose smearing some mud on it before speaking.

"Now we are mud siblings, bound forever by not thinking and rolling in mud." Marco blinked at her weird words and found they strangely made sense.

"You think of me as a sibling already?" Mina giggled before punching his shoulder in a good natured fashion before replying.

"Well of course I do ya dumb dumb, you picked up on not thinking real quick." Mina gasped and turned pointing up. "Where's my camera, where's my telescope, where's my sketching pad; what the hell is that?" She pointed up at a replica of a woolly mammoth that was put into the mud pits as Star called out to them from the side.

"Marco get out of that mud pit and away from the crazy now." Mina climbed onto the mammoth replica and took a heroic pose yelling.

"Ride my great beast; take me to the clouds so I might request the aid of the Astrals in hunting down the mud-folk remnants!" Marco turned up towards Star replying to her.

"Star you yourself said she was one of Mewni's greatest warriors."

"Yeah, and I also said she lost her marbles Marco; that woman's crazy."

"Well half of all the people from your dimension are crazy so I don't see how she's a problem." Star went to answer but words failed her as, when she really thought about it from Marco's perspective, he did have a point. "And even if she is that doesn't mean I can't learn from her." Their conversation was interrupted by Mina who yelled at the mammoth.

"Hello what gives, aren't you gonna move you furry lump?" She kicked the mammoth's head as the Park Ranger called out to her.

"Ma'am, I'm gonna have to ask you to get off our replica and get out of that mud pit." Mina turned towards the ranger and shouted back at him.

"Not until this creature takes me with him." The park Ranger sighed and stepped out into the mud coming after her.

"Alright guess it's gonna be…" He stopped however when he began sinking into the mud. "… well this is a cruel twist of fate indeed." As he sunk the mammoth Mina was on began sinking as well due to the weight she put on it with her yelling out to the world.

"Behold and be saddened by the loss of our stubborn but noble and great beast. Rest well and let the Valkyrie's take you to the hall of the fallen to feast with the ancestors!" A crowd had gathered nearby who were taking pictures of the situation while Star called out to Marco.

"Marco, don't follow the crazy, it is never a good idea. She may be a bad kind of crazy that is too much to handle." As Marco thought about that for a second Mina called out to him.

"Well come on ya slow buttercup, lots of training to do yet." Marco blinked at her words and smiled thinking aloud.

"First lesson, just stop thinking when in the action." He followed Mina with Star face palming in exasperation as she spoke to herself.

"Damnit Marco, and we were having such a fine date before you ran off with that woman." A nearby gasp startled Star making her look at a group of girls nearby who were looking at Star in shock. "Um…" One of them, a sassy black girl, spoke up.

"That boy ran off with that woman while you two were on a date! Oh girl you better drop that crazy fuck boy like a hot coal." The other girls nodded as Star scrambled for words.

"Wha- no he doesn't view her like *groans* you know what just leave me to keep him safe from himself." She sped off in their direction with the other girls giving her looks of pity.

* * *

Marco and Mina had moved to an area where there was a playground with kids playing around it. Mina faced Marco with an intense gaze as she spoke.

"Out next lesson is vital to survival in any location if people wish to harm you. We're gonna make some weapons." Mina slammed a fist into her open hand to push her point home. "As I will demonstrate now…" She walked over to a swing set with several kids swinging on it and climbed on top of it. "… you can get yourself a sturdy chain as so." She pulled one of the chains off sending one of the kids flying. "Be resourceful with finding materials and do not pass up anything unless if you find something without a doubt superior. Easy Peezy Taco Breezy. Now make your own weapon." She pointed to the side with Marco moving out talking to himself.

"Ok it's just like arts and crafts except with weapons. Wait is that kid ok?" Marco looked over his shoulder to see the kid crying and running for his mother. "Yep he's gonna be ok. Now focus." As he began looking around Star moved up to a nearby bench and sat down annoyed at the whole experience eating one of her doughnuts.

"Oh hello there." Star looked to the side to see a mother holding a baby smiling at Star while sitting next to her. "You here to watch your family as well?" Star nodded numbly. "Well mine are over there." She pointed towards a full grown man riding a mini tricycle with a girl chasing after him. "I will never get why men do these strange and sometimes stupid things at times. Which ones are yours?" Star sighed and pointed towards Marco, who was on all fours now, and Mina, who was trying to take a kid's bat away.

"Those two, but especially the boy." The woman took one look at them and sighed sympathetically.

"Oh bless your soul girl." Star sighed and ate another doughnut. "You know once they're 18 they're the government's problem." Star sighed again before speaking up.

"Usually Marco is not this bad but he seems to be in an obsessed mode right now and I can't really stop him until he comes to his senses. It annoys me but I love him to much." The woman patted Star's back as Marco continued talking to himself.

"Ok, anything at all can be used. Come on use your resourcefulness Diaz… oh hello." He picked up a random small sickle. "What is this doing just lying arou- oh." Marco picked up a length of string lying around. "Well she did say use anything and-oh a rock." He picked up all the items with an image flashing through his mind. "Oh things are coming together already." He quickly put the items together as best he could and went back up to Mina who had just wrestled the bat away from the kid sending him off crying. "Mina, what did you get?" Mina held up the bat speaking intensely.

"I have a base for a mace, it still needs work but it can work in this state. How about you?" Marco held up his makeshift Kusarigama and waved it around with a smile.

"I got mine here; can you believe someone just left this thing lying around?" He pointed to the sickle end of it with Mina smiling and nodding in approval.

"A good warrior does not question where they get items or how they get them only that they get them. This is a battlefield after all. Oh real quick." She puleld out a random marker and drew a snarling face on the rock. "Now you have psychological warfare as well." She then smiled and rubbed his head affectionately. "You are only a human and yet you pick up things at such a fast pace." Marco smiled at that as Mina continued. "Hmmm, you got some soft and fluffy black hair doggy." Marco's face went deadpan as Mina continued for a second before she pointed onwards. "No time for me to indulge, we've got work to do." She took off with Marco chuckling a little bit as he followed her. Star rolled her eyes at the exchanged as she followed them again.


	79. Starstruck Pt 2

"Alright are ya here in body and bodyself mud brother?" Marco nodded at Mina's words with Star rolling her eyes. The trio was standing at the end of the line for a hotdog stand with Mina keeping her voice close to a whisper. "Then lesson number tray, gather intel… keep quiet about it as someone may be watching you as well. You gotta learn from your surroundings and not just wander off in your own little world." Marco nodded as he took notes of this with Star actually chuckling to herself at the hypocrisy of Mina's statement. Mina then turned around and poked a short old lady in the head making her 'hair' shift around a little bit. "Oh sorry didn't' know it was a wig. Say what is the name of your ruler again?" The older lady chuckled a little bit as she replied to Mina.

"Not from around her are you?" Marco immediately leapt in to cover for Mina.

"She's a foreigner. And I could have answered your question for you in that we don't have rulers like you do." The old lady chuckled as she spoke up again.

"Oh how exotic and yes we don't have any rulers here in the United States, we're free." Mina stared at Marco and the lady blankly as if trying to figure out if it was a joke or not before she spoke.

"So… who makes the rules around here?" At this the guy at the hotdog stand spoke up loudly.

"Oh we make our own rules." He ate half of the hotdog he was about to give someone before he gave it to the now miffed customer. "Through the radical process of VOTING!" He went to take the customer's money but the customer just gave him half a dollar bill. Mina on the other hand was looking around in shock mumbling to herself.

"Waaaaaa ah just trying to wrap my head around this. You people simply decide what you want to do without an authority figure telling you what to do?"

"That's right little lady." This was said by two figures simultaneously. One was a male cowboy figure wearing red white and blue with a bald eagle on his shoulder and a German Shepard at his leg. The other was a morbidly obese man on a scooter of some sort wearing red white and blue as well with a mini gun that shot fireworks mounted on the scooter's front.

"So you all mean… I can do this?" Mina leapt onto the backs of two people who were in yoga poses with the old lady responding.

"Yes." Mina then leapt off and began juggling random items she found on the ground.

"Or this?" Everyone around her nodded again with Mina pulling up a torch she found at random. "Or this?" She set fire to the hotdog stand with the owner of it chuckling.

"Technically that's arson." Mina then heaved her torch up high yelling.

"Freedom!" Mina began walking off with the crowd of people cheering her on while Star looked on in worry. "No limitations on freedom." Star spoke to herself as she watched the display.

"This is the democracy Ludo advocates for so much?" Marco turned towards Star shaking his head.

"No, this is a crowd getting hyped up on action. It happens all the time around here." Star turned towards Marco in confused shock. "What?" Marco was then yanked to the side by his neck as Mina spoke to him.

"I have learned there are no rules on this planet; it's an everything goes fight to the death!"

"Not exactly." Mina looked at Marco with a raised eyebrow as he detached himself form her. "There are a lot of small nuanced practices that make things more complicated." Mina stared at him blankly for a second before laughing and replying.

"Of course there are, why didn't I see it." Her face got serious again. "Now come, you have learned much already and have shown great potential; it is time I inducted you to the first level of warriors." Mina moved off to a hill at the center of the park with Marco going to follow but Star stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.

"Marco wait, you gotta stop this." Marco turned to Star confused.

"Stop what?" Star gestured to the burning hotdog stand, the destroy swing set, and the sunken mammoth. "Oh come on Helsinki was more destructive than that and she was 'sane' in comparison to Mina."

"But Marco…"

"Star I get that you're trying to look out for me but I need to seize on any chance to better myself all things considered. And besides Mina is a really fun teacher; I already learned how to perfect meditation better then Sensei had ever taught me." Star went to reply but was cut off by Marco. "Look I am gonna follow her and see what else I can learn from her as long as she remains manageable; or until its dinner time, whichever comes first." Marco kissed Star's cheek before he turned and walked off with Star staring after him for a second and sighed shrugging.

"Well, can't fault his devotion. Also, if you can't beat them join them; might as well see if Mina has anything to offer." Star took off after the duo as they climbed the hill with Marco talking to himself.

"Just stop thinking, make a weapon out of anything, and gather intel subtly." Marco made it to the top of the hill slightly winded noticing a group of nearby bystanders who had also followed Mina up the hill. "I made it Mina." Mina turned towards him and gestured to a circle of cute animals that were sitting on rocks.

"Come little mud face you must partake in the warrior's ritual; step inside the circle of animals." Marco nodded and stepped forward as a cat meowed. "Now repeat these words… and by that I mean the words following these words not these words exactly. That happens way too often." Marco nodded with a stoic look on his face as Mina raised her hands to the sky. "Oh great battle lords." Marco raised his hands in a similar manner.

"Oh great battle lords." Mina put her hands in a prayer position.

"Please protect us."

"Please protect us."

"Carry our foes off to the depths of space and time so they may forever lay in the ruins of our victory!"

"Carry our foes off to the depths of space and time so they may forever lay in the ruins of our victory!"

"Lead us to the battle and you shall bath in our conquests!" Mina then began doing some sort of battle shriek with Marco following suit. Star managed to make to the top of hill then and found herself smiling at the display with Mina grabbing Marco and hugging him close. "And now I embrace you initiate of the first circle of warriors, may you fly higher with every passing day mud brother." They parted with Marco speaking up with a sly smile.

"So what are the steps for the second circle? Does it involve 'The pleasure of crushing my enemies, see them driven before you, and hearing the lamentations of their… followers?'" Mina chuckled and elbowed him good natured.

"You got the right idea. We will be fighting the mud folk and what few allies they have left to defeat them for good… after we are done conquering earth." Marco raised his fist to the air.

"Yea… wait what?" Marco's eyes went wide with shock as Mina giggled in a psychotic manner as she elaborated.

"The entities of this world are without any ruler, wild and unkempt running around destroying things willy nilly. If you are a basic specimen having gotten to the first circle in only an hour or so then this wild race has great potential. I will become that ruler and see them serve me in stamping out the mud-folk once and for all; and you will be by my side mud-brother seeing my will be done." She then flicked his nose in an adorable fashion with Marco giving a 1,000 yard stare before chuckling nervously.

"Oh Mina that's just crazy talk, enslaving an entire planet single handedly." Mina laughed boldly at that as she replied.

"Of course it's not; it can be done rather easily in fact. Your world is advanced but its achievements are brittle." She pointed to Star who was now looking back and forth between Marco and Mina nervously. "That girl bears the wand of the Butterflys for some reason and with it we can subdue all of humanity in a matter of weeks." Marco rubbed the back of his head now chuckling really nervously.

"Look conquering a whole planet seems a bit extreme doesn't it?" Mina laughed boldly as she smacked Marco's back.

"Of course not, it's not like I intend to rule earth for very long just long enough to finish off the mud-folk," Her face suddenly became grim as she stared at Marco. " and get my revenge against Queen Moon and King Toffee." Marco was now sweating nervously as he glanced towards Star who was rubbing her tail nervously with him replying to a once again smiling Mina.

"Revenge… what did they do to you?" Mina turned her back to Marco lifting up the back of her shirt exposing lines of scars, some of which were black colored and seemed fresh.

"They left me to die is what they did!" Mina's voice was now resentful. "I joined with Moon when one of my most promising Guardians told me we should listen to her when she flung accusations of this Shadow Clause. When they proved to be right I sided with her and stuck with her through thick and thin even overlooking the fact that she was romantically involved with a fucking Monster of all things!" She turned back towards Marco with an angry look in her eyes. "At the Ambush of the Thundering Falls I engaged literal nightmares so Moon could defeat the enemy general and suffered a horrible curse because of it." She went cross eyed and pointed to her head twirling her fingers in circles like she was loco. "I went crazy and even now I know I am not all quite there." She returned to her normal angry stance. "I was broken mentally and what did Moon do to help me? Not a Gods damned thing that's what!" She stamped her foot down to drive the point home making Marco take a step back and Star take several steps back. "She let me run off in my state of madness without so much as a rescue party to bring me back so she could help me. If I were any less a warrior I would have died in my broken state. Now I seek justice and retribution and I'll start by gathering the bugs of this world into an army that will lay waste to Mewni after I finish off the mud-folk once and for all!" She now turned towards the bystanders. "Kneel before me minions, for I am the greatest warrior that this world has ever known!" The bystanders looked at each other for a second before kneeling down in front of Mina as she chuckled and spoke to Marco now smiling. "See, simple words have given us a good start." Marco was looking on in shocked horror as he whispered to himself.

"I have made a terrible mistake." Marco looked around in panic mode before speaking to Mina. "I can't conqueror earth." Mina chuckled at that waving her hand at him.

"Pshhah of course you can you're a warrior now aren't' you?" She turned towards Star smiling. "Now let's get that wand from her so we can get properly started. Still have no idea why a Monster would be wielding…" At this she got a wide eyed look of realization and began chuckling evilly. "So Moon and Toffee did have a child after all. Preemptive strike, two birds with one stone." She stepped forward reaching her hand out but Marco intercepted her.

"NO!" Mina blinked in shock as he took a fighting stance. "I like earth, it's my home so I don't wanna conquer it and leave it a smoldering mess. And Star is my best friend and girlfriend; I won't let you hurt her!" The bystanders gave a sigh at how sweet his lines were with one girl speaking up.

"Well, guess he ain't a fuck boy." Mina stared at Marco in shock before her face got scary again and her voice changed to a deep double voice.

"I thought you wanted to be a warrior!" She began rising up in the air with a swirling vortex of turquoise energy encasing her. A burst of energy shot into her making her eyes go white and take on the body of a heavy weight lifting champion. She glared down at Marco as Star came to stand next to him pointing her wand at Mina. Marco's face took on a grim look as he spoke to her in a calm manner.

"Lesson one, stop thinking and just feel." Mina blinked in shock before her eyes narrowed and she made ready to attack them.

"Um excuse me." The trio looked over to see one of the people bowing down had raised his hand. "Don't we get a vote on this?" Everyone looked back and forth for a second before Mina spoke up.

"Ha, really? Freedom doesn't matter now as I am your all powerful ruler!" The man spoke up again.

"Ok all in favor of Mina ruling us raise their hands." A few people raised their hands with him counting quickly. "Ok now those against her raise her hands." Most of the people raised their hands with the man counting quickly. "Ok it's a landslide folks, freedom wins again." Everyone in the crowd cheered as Marco spoke up to Mina wiping the mud off his face.

"Mina I wanted to learn from you, and I did, but you are bananas in the bad way." Mina scowled at Marco but before she could speak a cop's siren and voice sounded out right next to them.

"Ok purple haired Schwarzenegger lady we're gonna need to talk to you." Two cops on were staring down Mina who simply growled before speaking to Marco.

"Humpf, if this is the way things are going I'm better off finding another world to aid me. You don't deserve this." She reached down yanking Marco's weapon away and leapt for a dumpster.

"My Kusarigama!" Mina turned back with a look of contempt in her eyes.

"Go ahead and squander your potential with that mud-blood freak, see if I care." She leapt into the dumpster closing it behind with the officers moving in speaking up to the dumpster.

"Alright come on out there's nowhere for you to go." They opened up the dumpster looking in with the officers just staring in for a second. "She's… gone." They looked at each other for a second before one talked into his radio. "Magic does exist, repeat magic does exist." Meanwhile the crowd was dispersing whit Marco sitting on the edge of the hill and looking out as the sun was lowering in the sky. Star came up standing next to him with Marco speaking up to her.

"*Sigh* You were right Star, Mina had no marbles." Star rubbed his head before leaning down to kiss his cheek.

"Well honestly I was caught off guard when she went off the deep end so quickly so you weren't the only one that was fooled." She continued rubbing Marco's head with him sighing in content before speaking.

"We should tell your parents about this shouldn't we?" Star nodded absentmindedly.

"Yeah we should. Wanna go check to see if there are any day old baguettes first?" She handed him the final doughnut in the bag she had with Marco smiling.

"Yes, let's." Took the doughnut and walked off with Star as the two clasped hands with each other.

* * *

Mina sat under a tree on Mewni staring at the Kusarigama Marco had made with a morose look in her eyes. She sighed before reaching down and placing a small smear of mud on the cheek of the face she had drawn in it. She shouldn't be feeling this way but the way Marco had immediately leapt to protect the princess made her both respect his devotion and hurt at his betrayal. She rarely sensed great potential but she had sensed it in him, a mere 14 year old boy who had mastered her initial lessons in under an hour. She stared up at the sky wishing he had followed her lead but at the same time finding herself respecting his choice to follow Star.

"*Sigh* Mud brother." She stared off into space feeling a hollow emptiness she hadn't felt for a while… until a sudden roar and whump came from nearby. "What in the name of candied yams!" Mina ran off in the direction the sound had come from and stopped behind some bushes before looking to see what had made it.

She saw what appeared to be a group of drakes and Mewmans gathered in a field with several Mewmans on the backs of the drakes. As she just took a second to comprehend this a Gronkle took off with a woman on its back and flew towards a blackened part of the field with the crowd cheering them on. As they got close the Gronkle began to dodge in midair as random items were thrown at it with the woman guiding it to a set location. As they got near it she hit the drake lightly on its head with it shooting a ball of fire hitting what Mina presumed to be some sort of target. The dragon turned in midair and fired another shot at another target before flying back while still dodging the items. As the crowd cheered a large man with long white hair and a beard and an eyepatch stepped forward as if to inspect the woman. After looking her and the drake over he turned towards the crowd and held up three fingers with the crowd applauding even more voraciously.

"Never seen this before huh?" Mina turned taking a battle stance to see Mavis standing right next to her with her arms crossed. "Well there are many firsts as of now such as the first usage of drakes by Mewmans, the first True Dragon following a Mewman, and the first time the Butterfly wand has turned against itself." Mavis then held up her wand with it glowing a green color.

"Wha-who are you and why are talking to me so calm like?!" Mina did not budge from her battle stance as Mavis spoke.

"*hehehe* Oh my dear no need to worry about fighting me, I am not your enemy." At this the wand seemed to flash a little with color making Mavis smile. "Oh right, proper introductions, how silly of me." She bowed to Mina. "Mavis Butterfly, mother of the true dragon, master of drakes, reborn of the void, speaker of the wand, and true queen of Mewni as she is." She righted herself with Mina losing her fighting stance. "I have heard there is something you want that I want as well; justice on the Monster whore cousin of mine Moon Butterfly." Mina blinked in confusion speaking up.

"Wait, who told you that." Mavis chuckled and held up her wand.

"Oh just the spirits of the wand of course." She leaned in close to Mina whispering. "I am the first one they have truly spoken to in generations ever since Rhina the Riddled." She stood back up with Mina blinking in confusion. "So now I wish to extend an offer to you Mina Loveberry, Unburnt master of slaughter, guide of the Guardians, protector of Mewni, and greatest of the Solarians. Serve alongside me, the true queen of Mewni and retake our home for its rightful inhabitants. Do so, and I will grant you the gift of killing Moon and Toffee yourself and one other request." Mina stood there for a second with the whispers bugging her.

These whispers didn't bug her that much anymore but they still did pop up at times pushing thoughts into her head. She tried willing them to go away as she needed to focus now but had trouble doing so for the first time in a few years. She began rubbing her temples and fell to her knees groaning as Mavis looked on now in concern. The wand flashed briefly with Mavis nodding and stepping forward to place the wand on Mina's head… but was stopped by Mina. Mina blinked as the voices began to clear from her head as the thought of a single person entered her mind; Marco. The thought of him and his devotion and natural talent to being a warrior made the voices go away as if they were nothing. She blinked in thought for a second and then stood up facing Mavis and speaking.

"You know of the warrior Marco, he who accompanies the princess?" Mavis blinked in confusion and nodded. "My request is that we capture him alive so I might teach him the error of his ways and make him a true warrior as he was meant to be. Agree to that and we have a deal." Mina put her hand out with the wand glowing for a second before Mavis spoke to it.

"No I am going to agree to it this, Mina seems to have met him already." Mina blinked in concern as Mavis turned back to her. "Agreed." They shook hands for a second with Mavis pointing to the crowd. "Shall we introduce you to your new comrades in arms?" Mina nodded and giggled with the two moving out towards the crowd.

 **Audience: Guest Reviews!**

 **Sugarqueen97: Well thank you, that comment from the girl was an improve thing and the doughnuts being a date was** **something** **I HAD to put in there. And you're right, Marco is 14 just like Star he would act his age despite him being mature for it. The trick is doing it while** **making** **sure Marco is in character.**

 **Book of Eli: Well Marco in this story I've made to be a bit more impulsive and reckless compared to the canon show as MonStar isn't... well Star too much.**

 **WH: Well then folks, I was planning on extending the 'fluffy' bits by one more episode but I think some issues need to be addressed. It's gonna be a real Page Turner inside of the wand when we deal with 'Wands, Books, and Councils' coming soon. Psst, it's gonna be a long episode, I know this upfront for sure this time.**


	80. Of Wands, Books, and Councils Pt 1

**WH: *Is reading a book titled 'How to fix wands for dummies'* Ok, so in order to fix this thing what I need to do is get a taint of newt and scum of pond... no wait that's not right, that's how you turn people into their Halloween costumes. Maybe if I used 'Bubble bubble toil and trouble fire burn and cauldron...' No that's how you summon horrific visions to people. Hmmm, there must be something in here to help me as I am a dummy. *Notices the audience* Oh right I need to get this episode started. Enjoy everything here folks, this is gonna be a long one and be prepared to spot that reference.**

 **SN: Hippie, we need to talk about your organizational skills due to the late publication. The council has gathered.**

 **WH: I'm in the middle of fixing a wand right now, give me a minute!**

A centipede skittered up to a corn chip as big as he was and began nibbling on it before a silk bug came up and scared it off. Glossarick glanced over from his bed watching his bugs spar with each other over who got the first imperfect corn chip and chuckled to himself. He was in his room currently which was a bit messy with pudding cups, some dirty clothing, a slightly musty smell, and now corn chips half his size littering the room. Aside from his bed, now also holding a corn chip bag three times his size, there was a dresser, a table holding a microwave, skillet, and soup pot that was always boiling, a battered but still serviceable easy seat, a tv that looked like it came from the 1980's, enhanced by the Atari attached to it, and a drawing area taking up a full third of the room. His attention at the moment was on the silk bugs, Silky, Stinky, and Sassafras, his centipede Stormy, his scarab Simone, and his ear wig Sally going through the tossed corn chips. He pulled out another corn chip sniffing it carefully and scanning it with his gem before placing it down slowly so Silky could get hers. 'Well at least Stinky is busy so he won't get onto my drawing board again.' As Glossarick thought that he sighed glancing out his window into Rhina's chapter, suddenly deep in troubling thoughts.

Some people had rightly figured out that he could see the future, but he could not pin-point the future and instead saw a broad range of futures with the number increasing the further down he looked. This would drive most people mad but he had found a way to use it without hurting himself; putting the potential futures into images while he was in a self-hypnotized state so he could focus on ones he sensed were certain to happen or that felt important. The reason why he was worried was that several figures were emerging in his sketches at a regular rate recently which meant they were going to come forward VERY soon, and none of them looked friendly. A member of the Butterfly family with rose cheek marks in her Butterfly form mad with power and wielding a wand infused in her right palm; a suave high class male with a suit, cloak, cane, and top hat with two eyes on the right side of his face and a single one on his left side; and the one that scared him the most, a large beast cloaked in tattered robes with what looked to be a crown of dead branches growing on his head wielding some sort of long sword that looked like a knife in his hands. He couldn't make out details of these entities but he sure wished he could because all of them looked… familiar to him for some reason; like he had seen them before in real life.

These thoughts were thrown from Glossarick's head as the book suddenly shifted and bumped around making him grunt in annoyance. The bugs ran and hid under his bed with Glossarick getting up and leaping through the window moving up through the pages like he was swimming. He got to the cover of the book rather quickly and looked out the one of the crystals in the front to see Star staring in looking worried.

"Oh Star, hold on a second." Glossarick opened the book slipping out and bowing to her. "Oh Star future queen of Mewni, what do you want?" Star pointed to her left with Glossarick looking and seeing multiple badly deformed Narwhals all over the place who looked to be in pain. "GAHHHHH!" Glossarick immediately clapped his hands with a bleach bucket and a shovel popping out of the book. "Quick start digging some graves, I'll clean up the evidence!" Star blinked in shock and grabbed onto her tail speaking up.

"Wait, they're dead?!" Glossarick stopped midflight pouring bleach on a Narwhal and turned back seeing Star now panicking. "Oh nonononono, mom and dad are gonna be so MAD! First my magic was messing itself up when I was in a ptsd state, then when I was just in a bad mood, and now I can't even use magic properly at ALL!" She sat on her bed wrapping herself around her tail. "What if they take my wand away, what if they have to lock me up for the safety of others, what if they crystalize me, what if I never see Marco again…"

"They're not dead?" As if to push Glossarick's question home the narwhal he was pouring bleach on gasped in pain with the others shifting around. "Oh sweet mercy we are in the clear. Wait how did this happen anyways?" Star got up slowly and walked to Glossarick holding out her wand.

"My spells are not working for some reason. Look, Narwhal blast." Star shot out another distorted Narwhal making it slam onto the wall bleeding some sort of green gunk. "It happens no matter how many times I do it too, Narwhal blast." Glossarick almost vomited at the sight of the next one holding his hand up at Star.

"No, please stop that. And call them all back into your wand for that matter please." Star nodded and summoned them back into her wand with a wave as Glossarick composed himself. "Look Star this time it's not you or your spells, it's your wand. I do believe it's been contaminated." Star blinked in shocked confusion staring at her wand.

"Contamnia… wha?" Glossarick nodded and elaborated.

"Something has gotten inside the wand and is now corrupting the magic within. What we need to do is go inside the wand and find what is contaminating it." Star blinked in confusion her mood lightening as she replied.

"Wait, you can do that?" Glossarick nodded. "That actually sounds pretty cool. Wait, what do you mean by we?" Glossarick picked Star and the wand up with magic making them hover next to each other.

"Well Star, the wand is connected directly to the realm of magic but the wand itself is tied into your memories as well as those of the past queens of Mewni to a far lesser extent. Because of this I need you to come with me so we can find what is corrupting it as only you will be able to properly identify the thing that 'doesn't belong'." He set Star down with her catching the wand.

"Um how will I know what doesn't belong?" Glossarick shrugged as he replied.

"Oh you will just know. Now then, NACHO!" The cat peaked around the door to Star's room shivering nervously as he glanced around the room. "Come in here, I need your assistance." Nacho walked into the room glancing around as if he could be attacked at any time with Star commenting on it.

"Say, what's with Nacho?"

"Oh he can smell corrupted magic, and he doesn't like it in the slightest." As Star nodded and *ooooohhh'd* in understanding Glossarick turned towards Nacho. "Ok Nacho, what I need you to do is guard Star's wand while we are inside of it. Can you do that?" Nacho nodded nervously.

"*worried Meow*"

"Yes Nacho, we are trying to get rid of the evil smell coming from the wand. We just need you to make sure no one messes with the wand at all, and I do mean no one." Nacho shook himself off with a determined look on his face.

"*determined meow*"

"Alright then, real quick." Glossarick pulled out a note writing on it and sticking it onto Star's wand. "Alright then, ready to go?" Star nodded with Nacho giving a salute with his snake tail to his forehead. "Alright then and *claps his hands* we are inside of the wand." Star blinked looking around in confusion before facing Glossarick.

"Um, we are still in my ro…" She then noticed that her wand was no longer in her hand and Nacho was no longer next to her. "… whoa."

"Indeed whoa. No I am going to need you to focus on only my…" Glossarick's gem began ringing with a pale light coming from it. "… oh really now of all times. Hold on a second Star and do not talk to anything." He answered his gem by pressing on it with a finger. "Hello." Star's attention was suddenly taken by her door opening with Marco stepping inside.

"Hey Star, have seen hoodie number 49?" Star by reflex turned and replied.

"Hey Marco and no I..."

"Star that is not the real Marco, stay focused." He turned back to talking. "No not you I'm talking to my ward. This is a really bad time right now…"

* * *

"Hey Star have you seen my hoodie?" Marco walked into Star's room looking around a second and seeing only Nacho by Star's spell book and wand which was face down. "Um Nacho where is Star?" Nacho turned and meowed at Marco. "Oh right you can't talk."

At that the laser puppies ran into the room and leapt at Nacho who screeched in shock as they dog-piled him. Marco chuckled as the group rolled around with the cat struggling to get out of their mess. He walked towards Star's wand and the book of spells which he noticed now was open. He went to close it but was struck by a thought.

"Glossarick? Where are you?" Marco looked around for a second. "If you come out now I'll get you some of my homemade tapioca." When Glossarick still didn't show up Marco shook his head in confusion. "Star's not here, Glossarick's not here, and the wand and book are just left wide open; what's going on?" As looked back at the wand he noticed there was a note on it but it was placed on the part of the wand that was down. "Well hello there." As he reached down to flip the wand over Nacho finally got out of the pile of puppies and noticed Marco's actions.

In slow motion Nacho immediately leapt for Marco's face with a desperate meow making Marco turn his head as he reached for the wand. Marco's eyes went wide at the look on Nacho's face and he went to doge Nacho's assault but he forgot he was already ducking down and was reaching for the wand. As he ducked he grabbed onto the wand making him realize just how unstable he was right now and how Nacho was still directed at him. As they made impact the two fell over with Marco's hands coming over Nacho holding him over his face for a second. They laid that way for a second before the wand began to vibrate and shake glowing white in Marco's hands. Nacho got off of Marco's face enough for both of them to look at it noticing the note on it, 'Do not touch this wand Marco or it will be bad for me and Star, Sincerely Glossarick.'

"Well, shit." Nacho meowed in agreement to Marco's words as the wand configured to Marco's form.

* * *

"… I mean a really bad time, the worst possible time you could have…" Glossarick's words were suddenly cut off as the whole world seemed to shake and began contorting like a bad drug trip. And then after a few seconds it all stopped but now Glossarick found he was standing in Marco's room. "Oh that can't be good." He turned to look at Star who was now gone. "Of course she's gone. Look I'm gonna need to hang up now, call me back in like two hours or… wait what do you mean I have no choice right now?" Glossarick's body suddenly went limp, floating in midair, with his eyes going black.

Glossarick now found himself in a black void falling super-fast towards a massive tower to the point where he had purple fire around him like a meteor. Surrounding the tower was a small crystal garden of sorts with some fountains with the tower itself on the ground floor being surrounded by a veranda with marble columns on the outside. The only thing that could be considered and entrance was a large metal door with a lever beside it and some sort of humanoid green moose dressed up as a security guard eating corn chips in front of it. He seemed relaxed until Glossarick suddenly slammed directly into the door hard enough to squish him like a slinky. As he groaned in pain the guard bent over him with a concerned look in his eyes.

"Oh hi Mr. Glossarick sir." He picked Glossarick up and dusted him off before twisting him back into shape. "Sorry about that, transportation is on the fritz right now. But there are free muffins in the lobby." Glossarick assumed his crossed legged pose speaking with strained patience.

"Shaun, do you know just how important the task I was just doing right now was?" Shaun chuckled before answering.

"Well no but the magical high commission still wants to..." Glossarick then began wailing with Shaun becoming concerned. "… um sir are you all right?" Glossarick turned on Shaun plainly showing his frustration.

"Oh I don't know. Did you miss your flight, are you mad, are you running late, did you crack, are you confused, is something wrong!?" Glossarick then babbled for a minute before Shaun tried laughing it off.

"Oh Mr. Glossarick you are so crazy *hehe*." His face then went serious. "But you still have to see the Magical High commission." Glossarick looked at Shaun dead-pan.

"Hand me your radio." Shaun handed it to Glossarick turning it on with an airhorn blasting Glossarick back 10 feet.

"Hehe sorry, radios are on the fritz too; but there's free muffins inside still." Glossarick looked up to the top of the tower that seemed endlessly high.

"*sigh* I have to go all the way to the top don't I?" Shaun nodded. "Ok then let's get this over with." Glossarick moved to the door with Shaun stopping him.

"Oh you still know that magic is not actually allowed to be used inside of the building right?" Glossarick sighed and drifted to the ground before Shaun opened the door. "Have a nice day sir." As Glossarick ran in he called over his shoulder.

"Too late for that."

* * *

Star picked herself back up from the weird shift in the world trying to figure out what just happened. As she looked around she noticed she was now standing in some sort of black desert with a green swirling sky above her dotted with purple doors floating everywhere. She looked around in wonder for a second before she finally spoke up.

"Where am I? I don't remember a place like this at all." She heard a scuffling from nearby and turned towards it. "Hello. Glossarick?" She walked in the sound's direction cautiously as the scuffling got louder.

She looked around a rock to see what looked like a stereotypical 1950's nerd that was grey-washed holding onto a small mirror. He was staring at a box with exasperation in his eyes and body languag as he seemed to be talking to the box. Next to him was what appeared to be a stereotypical princess except she had green skin and red eyes while holding some sort of golden necklace with a glowing green gem in it. Star watched them for a second in confusion as the nerd kicked the box and jumped around for a second holding his foot in mild pain. The princess looked between the nerd and the box and rubbed the box speaking in a sad voice Star could not fully pick up on. Curiosity getting the better of her Star began stalking up to the 'trio' on all fours to actually listen in on the group hearing the princesses words first.

"…know it is hard for you given what has happened in the past but don't you think you can come out of the box?" The box itself seemed to reply in a depressed tone.

"I don't know, everyone worth anything, except for you guys, just laugh at me; even many of the people worth nothing just laugh at me. I'm a pathetic excuse for a ghost." At this the nerd turned towards the box speaking up in a nasally voice.

"Well so was I, but now I am someone many a bully fears and respects enough to leave us dorks alone. Why can you not try to be the same?" The box replied now somewhat annoyed.

"Because I don't have Pandora's box obviously; that was the only thing that made me even comparable to you guys."

"Pandora's box?" Star spoke to herself thinking she had heard it somewhere before.

"Yes Pandora's box I… wait neither of you two said that." Star clamped her hand over her mouth as the other two entities looked around at the box's words. "Come out and face ou… their wrath if you dare!" Star went to take a step back and stepped on something with it making a cracking noise.

'Way to go idiot.' Star thought to herself as the two figures moved in on her supernaturally quickly and were now floating around her. The princess put on her necklace immediately transforming into a large blue scaled dragon staring Star down with an unusual rage. Star reached for her wand but remembered she was inside of it technically at the moment. She turned back towards them hissing a challenge with her eyes going yellow as she looked for an exit. As she did so the nerd suddenly got this strange look of recognition on his face holding up his hand.

"You… I sense something about you." He floated down closer to Star as if inspecting her for a second before speaking. "Have you been bullied in the past?" Star blinked in confusion with her eyes going back to normal as the dragon now spoke in the princess's voice.

"Intimidated by others because they didn't like what you were and wanted to use you?" Star began looking around nervously as now the box spoke up.

"Pushed around because you were found lacking by others even though you just wanted to run with them?" Star now grabbed onto her tail feeling weirded out as she replied.

"What are you guys doing and what do you want?" Star's nervousness somehow found its way into her voice as the box opened.

Coming out of the box was a blue skinned entity who was wearing blue overalls with thick white gloves and a blue hat. The dragon took off her necklace turning back into a princess with the trio looking at each other in shock for a second before they all smiled at Star and spoke in unison.

"She is one of us!" They all immediately closed in trying to group hug her with Star leaping out of their grasps.

"Whoa whoa whoa, who are you people and what is it you're doing? I don't even know you yet you're acting like this!" The trio looked at each other in shock which turned into shame before the nerd spoke up.

"Sorry about that, we just get overly excited at times. Introductions are in order." The group straightened themselves standing up with dignity. "I am Sidney Poindexter, the nerd among nerds standing up for all those who were bullied. I was able to sense your troubled past." The Princess spoke up now curtsying politely.

"I am Princess Dorathea of Aragon's kingdom; or at least I was until he banished me for not being his slave." Sidney put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically as the third figure spoke up.

"I am the the box Ghost, master of all box shaped spaces in cardboard and properly treated wood and metal." Star stared at the three for a second in confusion before speaking.

"Wait, Box Ghost… are you a ghost?" The trio looked at each other with worried looks on their faces with Dorathea speaking up.

"Of course we are all ghosts, this is the land of ghosts known as the Ghost Zone. Are you lost by any chance?" Star gluped looking around rubbing her tail nervously.

"More than even I realized."

* * *

Marco stared at his wand for a second before turning back to Nacho who was looking around in a worried manner. Marco set the wand down on Star's bed gently before sitting on the bed speaking slowly.

"Ok this can be fixed right? There's gotta be a way to fix this." He turned towards Nacho who looked up at him with a worried mew. "Yeah I'm nervous now too Nacho, I'm not even sure what I just did at the moment. Is there even a way to…" Marco froze looking at the Book of Spells. "… that's gotta have an answer somewhere. I mean it told us how to fix time when we froze it after all." Marco pulled the book up onto the bed with Nacho sitting beside him. "You know I always wanted to take a look inside of this thing but Glossarick was always in the way. Wait am I actually allowed to do this?" He turned towards Nacho who shrugged and gestured to the turned wand. "Yeah I kind of passed that point by now, let's get going." He opened the book back up to find a note in the very front.

 _Hello readers of the book of spells._

 _This is princess Star Butterfly here, although at this point it would be queen Butterfly to you people. Unless if people in my kingdom get mad enough that another person was put on the throne in my place, unlikely but still. Regardless, when I got the book it was a COMPLETE mess with chapters out of order and even mixing together at parts. So I took the time to organize this book so that future princesses, including myself, could read it better. I just ask this of you, please do not mess up my work for everyone's sake, it is far easier to read it now and it is fairly easy to keep things organized if you don't rip pages out. Also, I have left notes throughout the book on habit to make corrections about things that are inaccurate or are out of date. Although I may have just commented at times simply for the sake of commenting; oh well, please read and do enjoy your time with this book._

'Of course Star would do something like that.' Marco thought to himself smiling as he turned the page getting a second editor's note of all things.

 _Greetings readers of the Book of Spells, my name is Skywynne and I am the 29th queen of Mewni. My mother claimed she was the 26th but an in depth look at history has proven otherwise. Regardless I am here to apologize for the apparent lack of information dating back throughout the queens of Mewni. You see my mother planned an elaborate spectacle for my wand ceremony, if you are a princess you know what I mean and if not then give this book back you thief, and it got out of hand when the show drakes got out. The whole castle burnt down along with the original book of spells because my mother instead went for the book of fashion when she said she was going to save the royal book. I really do pity that woman honestly, I love her but I pity her. Regardless, several portions of the original book survived which I have preserved at the end of my chapter for you to look through. Use this knowledge wisely as a lot will rest on your shoulders one day my fellow princesses. Good Luck._

Marco blinked in confusion and shook his head before delving into the book further coming across the table of contents with a note from Star on top of it.

 _Hello again readers, can you believe it this was in the center of the book for some reason. How badly do you have to mess up in order for that to happen?_

'Welp this gonna be interesting.' He thought to himself opening up to the first chapter 'Skywynne Queen of Hours'.

 **Audience: Guest Reviews!**

 **Book of Eli: Things are progressing at an interesting pace, hopefully Star and Marco can progress with them.**

 **Unnamed: Well here is your next update, enjoy as much as you can. ;)**


	81. Of Wands, Books, and Councils Pt 2

Glossarick tapped his foot in annoyance as he waited for his turn to go through the magic scanner in front of the elevator. As the guy in front of him went Glossarick rolled his eyes at how despite the fact that the wizard was carrying and dressed in multiple magical items he didn't set off the scanner. 'Wow security has fallen on hard times.' Glossarick thought to himself as he went to step through the scanner but it began beeping with Shaun speaking up.

"Sorry Glossarick, I'm gonna have to scan you?" Glossarick went to speak up but then just nodded rolling his eyes as he just wanted everything done with.

Shaun used a hand held scanner going over Glossarick making multiple beeps in the process and pulled out a small tray for Glossarick to throw stuff into. Glossarick began throwing any magical items he had on himself into it with exasperated sighs. He went to walk through the machine again but it began reacting to him again with Shaun holding out the tray again. Glossarick began throwing other items into the tray now fuming at what was going on. Shaun scanned him again getting an all clear and nodding for Glossarick to precede which he did… setting off the machine again.

"*sigh* Shaun work with me please this is of cosmic importance right now. And also how did the previous guy go through without setting off any alarms; he had a black hole difibulator in his arms!" Shaun shrugged his shoulders replying.

"Technology, it's all on the fritz right now. Now then…" He scanned Glossarick again and found nothing making him rub his chin in confusion. "Ok try going through it again." Glossarick did so setting off the alarms again. "Glossarick did you put a cloaking spell on anything of yours?" Shaun's cutesy tone of voice made Glossarick snap.

"Take a good look bitch." He ripped off his rope showing Shaun he had no cloths on underneath save of a thong. "Do you see anything?!" Shaun shivered at the abrupt disrobing with his eyes focusing on the gem on Glossarick's forehead.

"Well…"

"No, that stays." Glossarick pointed to his gem. "Now can you let me through or not, I'm in a hurry here." Shaun looked around nervously before handing Glossarick back his items. "Thank you for coming around Shaun." Glossarick put everything back on and rushed towards the elevator with Shaun shaking in nervousness. "Hold the door." He leapt up sliding into the door which closed around his head. "Just… a little more…" Glossarick shoved himself through popping into the elevator with Shaun speaking up.

"Oh hey Glossarick, which floor?"

"Top floor, we've done this hundreds of times." Shaun nodded and pressed the 'top floor' button with him and Glossarick standing still next to the wizard who had gone through before Glossarick. They stood there for several seconds with nothing happening at all, the elevator was not even moving. Glossarick finally groaned and spoke to Shaun.

"Um the elevator is not moving." Shaun rubbed the back of head nervous again.

"Sorry, it's on the fritz too; but there's free muff-"

"What part of cosmic importance do you not understand?!" Glossarick extended his arm stupidly far and began hitting the 'top floor' button several times until it and all the other buttons lit up. This made the wizard with them speak up with a creepy voice.

"Now we must stop on every floor. Haha HA hahahahahaha!" The elevator made it to the first floor with Glossarick groaning in frustration leaping out onto the first floor. He looked up towards Shaun, who was sitting at a greeting desk and spoke up.

"Stairs, now." Shaun pointed to the door marked stairs with Glossarick opening the door. "Oh sweet Archeons have mercy on me." Glossarick looked up the seemingly eternal staircase steeling himself. He then grew his legs so they were the size of an ordinary human's and began running up the stairs.

* * *

"… so now I am stuck in this Ghost Zone for whatever reason without any idea of how I could have even gotten here in the first place. I mean I thought the wand was connected to the realm of magic, not a land of the dead." Star sunk her head onto her pulled up knees as her new friends listened to the end of her story.

They were all sitting around a fake campfire with The Box Ghost holding his hands over the fire like it was real for some reason. Star was frustrated beyond belief as the ghost friends of hers had explained exactly where Star was, one of the mini dimensions of where dead spirits go when they aren't reincarnated. She knew of one in particular, The Underworld from Mewni, but this one it seemed was the largest that connected to all the others where the 'excess' were just thrown into; almost like a garbage dump of souls if you wanted to be insulting. As Star stared at the fake fire in frustration Sidney spoke up.

"Actually this may be the place where it would make most sense for you to go to." Everyone turned towards him as he stood up. "You claimed that the past queens of Mewni have an impact on the wand with their memories right? Well where are most of the past queens of Mewni now?" Star blinked in confusion as the wheels began turning in her head. "The wand probably assumed you were as thus a past queen of Mewni and sent you to where most of the past queens of Mewni were found, the land of the dead." At that Dorathea spoke up.

"But wouldn't the queens be somewhere more fitting then where every other dead soul is thrown into?" Sidney smiled at that.

"Perhaps that would be true, unless if the area was so hidden you could only access it from the Ghost Zone directly. With all of these mini-dimensions connecting to each other it would be rather easy to hide in plain sight if there was only one entrance." At that Star perked up.

"That does make sense as a security measure. Dang you're good at this Sidney." Sidney smiled taking a confident stance as Star grew concerned again. "Wait, how would this help me… unless if the past queens might be able to do something to send me back." Star's smile lasted only a second before falling. "But… will they help me? I mean I'm half-Monster, I know at least one of my ancestors I know of would kill me on sight." At that the Box Ghost spoke up who was now trying to roast a weenie over the fake fire.

"Well do you have any other options aside from just sitting here and waiting for things to change?" At that Star sighed standing up.

"I guess you're right. But where am I going to go?" Dorathea spoke up at Star's words.

"That is a good point, every single door leads somewhere and there are hundreds of them." She pointed at the sky that was filled with purple doors before she got a thoughtful look on her face. "Wait anything that would mark a doorway as belonging to your family, some sort of family crest or what not?" Star rubbed her chin in thought for a second before nodding going over things in her mind.

"Well my family name is Butterfly so that's obvious, but we also have strong connections to celestial features. It could have high Mewni writing on it or have some sort of clearish crystal embedded in it or be made out of some sort of clearish crystal…" The Box Ghost blinked in confusion looking up.

"Wait, what does High Mewni look like?"

"Anybody got a pen and paper?" Dorathea pulled out a quill with some parchment paper handing them to Star. "Thank you." Star began writing as best she could with her friends watching her for a second before Star showed them her writing. "While this is technically a dead language the queens are expected to learn it one way or another for traditional reasons sooooo…" The box Ghost spoke up again.

"I recognize that style of writing. It's on a door not far from here… but it's heavily guarded by some sort of defense network and a group of ghosts who seem really mad about something." Everyone looked at the Box Ghost who now looked nervous. "I mean even some of the more powerful Ghosts tend to steer clear of the area." Dorathea spoke up at that.

"Which is why we are going to help you." Star blinked in shock and was about to say something but was cut off. "No no no, you are our friend now, and if you wish to get back you will likely need help at least getting through the door. We won't be able to help you out much from there likely but still." The other two ghosts nodded with the Box Ghost speaking up.

"Besides, you need my help even finding the area in the first place; unless you want to spend years looking through the local area door by door." Star smiled at this speaking up.

"Thank you guys, why is it now in my life I suddenly keep on meeting such amazing people." The trio closed in giving Star a hug and this time Star accepted it. "Say are you gonna eat that weenie?" The group pulled back with the Box Ghost shrugging.

"Nah, I don't need to eat. You can have it but it is..." Star pulled it off the stick and snapped it up shivering a little. "… raw. Are you alright?"

"I keep on forgetting that uncooked food can be cold or raw but don't worry, I can digest raw food just as well as cooked food. No need to worry about Salmonella for me." The ghosts looked at each other in concern for a second before they shrugged and led Star off.

Meanwhile from the shadows a figure peaked out from behind a rock taking in the sight of the figures moving in the direction of the Queen's gate. The figure was short and somewhat rotund being covered in a dark cloak with the hood over its head. The only feature that could be noticed about her was a pink star mark on each cheek like Star's Mewni marks.

* * *

"Ok, that's an impressive image." Marco gazed at the photo of Skywynne as she summoned a stampede of warnicorns to crush her enemies. "But nothing in her chapter it seems." Which was honestly a shame as he really liked this queen as well as what she did and had to deal with while still coming out on top. She had to deal with unimaginable disasters like Pandora's box while still providing food for an entire kingdom through magic alone for years. He turned the page to find her chapter ended but there was a note from Skywynne there.

 _Hello reader, I hope you have learned much from my chapter. Regardless now is the time that you should delve into the past before my time, at least what I could find. Included in these pages are precious few images and words of Magical commissions and princesses that came before my time. Learn well and please do not damage these pages above all else, some of this information can be found nowhere else even in any of the Mewman libraries._

Marco nodded understanding that and saw a note from Star right next to it.

 _I have taken the liberty of rewriting these pages and putting them up for preservation purposes next to the originals. I was also able to 'photo copy' the images and put new versions of them up as well identical to the originals. Thank you for still being careful with them though. ;)_

Marco smiled at Star's note and began looking through the 'chapter' of those that came before. There was a chronological chart of queens dating up to Skywynne with a few of the names repeated at the bottom: Stahlberg the Seafarer, Soupina the Mother of all, Etheria the Knight, Cosmica the Alchemist, and Artemis the Huntress. He flipped the page taking a look at Stahlberg's pages and read over her history and spells; at least what few there were. Her image in the book was of a tough almost pirate looking type woman with blue hair, pale skin, blue eyes, blue Mewni marks shaped like waves, and a trident/spyglass type wand. He found spells on how to navigate oceans, calm storms, remove curses (on treasure specifically), and magic for how to build and repair ships instantly. The history Stahlberg gave about the Mewman's arriving in Mewni was intriguing as it sounded like she and her followers were running away from someone as they had arrived. In fact most of it was of her adventures on the high seas with them lasting for years. He also saw a note from Star correcting what actually happened during The Great Monster Massacre when they did finally land on Mewni.

Artemis was next on the list and showed a dark skinned woman with green eyes, purple/red hair, white crescent moon shaped Mewni marks, a wand in the form of a bow, and practical clothes designed for hunting. For spells he found the same spell he saw at St. Olga's for tracking someone and a spell to heighten ones senses temporarily. Her history was vague at best, mostly talking about how she hunted wild beasts in the lands of Mewni. Etheria appeared to be a quiet and friendly woman wearing white armor with her purple hair, purple eyes, pale skin, purple fleur-de-le marks, and a wand in the form of a poll axe over her shoulder. Etheria didn't have any spells in her part but she did have a detailed part that outlined the code of Mewman Chivalry; which Marco promptly copied down every aspect of it. Cosmica the Alchemist's image was that of a woman wearing thick black robes with her brown hair and blue eyes showing on a pale face with… 'No Mewni marks?' Marco thought in shock. He read her history of a queen who could not work proper magic even with the wand she sought every means necessary to strengthen her own abilities, be they good or bad. There was also a note by Star that read:

 _The spells and methods Cosmica mastered here appear to have been ripped out by someone in the past. Whoever did it are bungholes... no further words needed._

Marco nodded in agreement with that and moved on to the most complete part in this area, Soupina's chapter. She appeared to be dressed in a nurse's outfit with pink eyes, pink hair, red crosses for Mewni marks, and had a wand looking like Hermes's staff with the serpents and wings around the stick. Her spells were a wide variety of healing spells dealing with plagues, scars, deformities, parasites, ordinary wounds of all varieties, and making water safe to drink and food safe to eat. Her history was the most complete of the bunch going into great detail of the great plague that overcame Mewni centuries ago leaving many people sick, dead, and deformed by its affects. Soupina had taken a hand on approach herself to heal the whole kingdom when she was a princess and queen to the point where she even healed Monsters, creating a temporary time of peace between the two groups. It also said she was perhaps one of the most popular queens to have ever existed and to this day people still honor her birthday as 'healing day'. He also saw a note by Star saying she wanted to be just like Soupina someday and that all princesses should strive to be like her which made Marco smile.

The next part of the chapter involved Glossarick giving a disjointed and short history of the cosmos that made no sense and mostly involved staring at two items to 'calibrate' your eyes for reading. But the end of those few pages had images of past 'Magical High Commissions' that had several figures standing together involving a queen of Mewni, Glossarick, and four to five other figures every single time. The one that caught his eye was one with the caption 'First Magical High Commission: Year 10 of the age of magic'. Next to it was a note by Star saying _-3989 Queen's Calendar or_ _3045 Before Common Era_ , making Marco double take at the image thinking 'This was from before the pyramids were even conceived!'

The image itself had the names of the figures under their images including Glossarick who was unchanged in appearance. There was a young and spry goat-man with bat wings in light plate armor with a brown cloak over it and purple magic emanating from his fore hooves with the name Lehkmet the Awe Inspiring. There was a purplish cloud like entity with a lion's skull bearing antelope horns acting as the head named Omnitraxus Prime I. A giraffe in Greco-style white robes holding a massive scroll of some sort had the name Reynaldo the bald Pate. An entity that looked like a person going through Mewberty with purple skin, pink heart shaped eyes, heart antenna, six arms, Mewni marks shaped like silver six pointed Stars, a wand in the shape of a gauntlet with a silver star like her marks on the back hand, 6 dragon fly like wings, and was wearing white wrappings like an ancient Egyptian might have had the name Queen Galaxia the Chosen. There was a humanoid raccoon wearing a black cloak and wielding a blue crystal dagger that looked like half a pair of scissors bearing the name Sly the Mischievous. But there was one in the background that got Marco's attention inparticular, a creature looking like Cthulhu except it was wearing Greco-style clothing and had a look of friendly benevolence in its calming blue eyes as it held its hands like a Buddhist monk would. Where the name would normally appear was some sort of unreadable language that had a translation next to it reading 'The Gift Giver'.

"Well, there's a lot more to this 'book' then I suspected." Nacho mewed as if saying 'really, you did not suspect something big?' "Well I expected something but not something going back more than 5,000 years ago." He glanced at the wand that was still in his form with half of the purple diamond at the center missing. "Welp, back to finding out if we can change it back or not." He flipped the page starting the chapter on 'Jushtin the Uncalculated'. "Wait, a boy queen? Well if a woman can be a king then can't a man be a queen?" Marco shrugged and continued.

* * *

"And that's it." Star peaked over the rock at the Box Ghost's voice seeing the door.

It had only about 15 minutes or so of walking before they saw a door with a frame of Iron with High Mewni chiseled into the frame reading 'The Gift Giver bless you and keep you; let his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may he look upon you with countenance and give you peace.'. The door itself seemed to be made out of some sort of clearish purple gemstone with cosmic symbols and a butterfly embedded onto the surface with copper. And surrounding the door were several gigantic stone statues of bat winged warrior goats that had glowing green gemstones for eyes. She looked back at her group with the box ghost filling her in.

"The statues act as guardians coming to life whenever someone gets to close and no attack can even scratch them…" He trailed off for a second with all three of the ghosts getting a nasty twitch. "Someone who has caused us a good deal of trouble is here." As Star cocked her head a voice called out from the sky.

"Ok who was the one that caused the cosmic disturbance and forced me from my finals study?" The group looked up to see an adult male with white hair, glowing green eyes, and wearing a full body black covering with silver gloves, boots, and a big D on his chest. "Oh god, not you again." The figure spoke in exasperation as he looked at the Box Ghost who replied.

"No, I didn't do anything this time. I just was hanging out with a group of friends and helping a friend." He pointed towards Star with the figure rolling his eyes.

"Yeah sure, your track record says otherwise." At this Dorathea spoke up.

"Look he's speaking the truth this time; he hasn't caused an incident in months at this point, and the last one was by accident." Sidney spoke up at this.

"Yeah, I get he's troubled you a lot in the past Danny but he's a changed person now. This is borderline bullying." Star glanced back and forth as the name Danny spurred her memory a little as Danny continued.

"Well someone caused a dimensional rift of some sort and I tracked you guys from where it happened… say who is that?" He pointed at Star as The box Ghost replied.

"That is our friend who we were helping to get back home." Danny moved in closer taking Star in before speaking.

"Who are you?" Star spoke up a little nervously.

"Um, I am Star Butterfly Princess of the Kingdom of Mewni." At this Danny went wide eyed.

"Wait, you mean the lizard girl from another dimension whose father threatened earth if we kept you in custody and whom Hell Boy has a soft spot for?" Star blinked in confusion as Danny lighted down on the ground. "What are you doing in the Ghost Zone?" Star shrugged her shoulders as she replied.

"I'm… lost. My magic teacher Glossarick was helping me fix my wand and somehow I got thrown here when some sort of drug trip earthquake happened." Danny looked at her wierded out. "I seriously could not make this up if I wanted to. So now these guys brought me to this door thinking that perhaps we could use it to try and get me back to my wand." Danny looked at the ghosts for confirmation with all of them nodding before looking at the door. "Say you wouldn't happen to know Mr. Lancer now would you?" Danny blinked in confusion turning back towards Star.

"Who are you talking… wait you wouldn't happen to mean Vice-principal Lancer?" Star nodded as she replied.

"He's actually the Principal of Echo Creek now, the school I'm going to. I help him out around the school all the time which he kind of needs as he doesn't understand his students that well." Danny blinked in confusion as he replied.

"Wait, you're friends with that guy?" Star nodded eagerly. "How?" Star blinked in confusion at Danny's words as Sidney spoke up.

"Um it's not so hard to be friends with the principal and teachers if you do what's needed of you ya know. I mean what were you doing in class, sleeping through it?" Danny glared at Sidney as he replied.

"I was dealing with you guys and that tends to dampen ones academic career, like you're doing right now by pulling me away from college studies." Star spoke up at this putting herself between Danny and the others.

"Wowowowowoha easy there people. Danny I think me being sent here is what caused the rift in the first place so no need to take it out on these guys." As she spoke her cheek marks suddenly lite up white making everyone stop and stare at Star. "What." Star's cheeks stopped their glowing with a shifting sound coming from the door's direction.

Everyone looked over at the door to see the statues had come to life and were now moving in their direction with pole arms held in both hands. Everyone looked back and forth worried with The Box Ghost whispering something about them not seeing you if you didn't move. The statues stopped about 15 feet from the group lining up and bowing towards Star. Star looked over the statues and ghosts in confusion before taking a tentative step towards them. The statues immediately stood up and moved back towards the door standing on either side of it in two lines like an honor guard would. Star looked back towards the ghosts who were now, all except for Dorathea, gawking at her prompting her to speak up.

"Could someone tell me what just happened because I have no idea." At that Dorathea spoke up.

"Isn't it obvious, the fact that you are Butterfly activated those statues and made them come to life allowing you to enter through the door as it is your birthright to do so." Everyone looked at her oddly. "What, it seemed pretty simple."

"Indeed it is." Everyone turned towards where the new speaker was and saw a figure wrapped up in a dark cloak step forward out of some shadows. "So it is true… that brat Moon did indeed take the puppet master lizard for her lover." Three more figures stepped out to join the first figure with what sounded like an old man speaking up.

"Tha blasted child went an rutted a Monster of all things, muddying the Butterfly line in the process. No matter, that issue can be solved rather easily now tha she's ere." The figures immediately drew forward weaponry of some sort stepping towards Star.

The statues immediately turned towards the group but the short and somewhat rotund member of the group turned towards them with Star shaped marks glowing on her cheeks. The statues went back to their positions with Star taking a few steps back. As Danny, Sidney, Dorathea, and the Box Ghost moved in around her defensively Star spoke up.

"Who are you people and how do you know my mom; and for that matter why do you hate her?" The group chuckled before speaking in unison.

"We work as darkness to keep stability, for without order all shall fall. As the Shadow Clause we shall protect Mewni."

 **The Croods- Dun Dun Dun (** **watch?v=5JSCbEKsguQ)**

 **Will Marco find out how to fix the wand, will Gloassarick make to the top of those stairs, will Star survive her encounter with a long thought dead enemy and make through the door? Find out next time on 'Dragon Bal...' I mean 'Star the Monster Princess'!**


	82. Of Wands, Books, and Councils Pt 3

**This chapter took WAY too long in getting out not just** **because** **my schedule suddenly got busy but I didn't know how I wanted to structure it. On the plus side half of the next chapter is** **already** **finished** **as well. Now finally BACK TO THE ACTION.**

"Hmmmm, I don't know about this queen. What do you think Nacho?" Nacho mewed without much indication in his voice as they glanced at the first page of Solaria's chapter.

Jushtin had apparently lost his right to the throne after his sister was born which convinced Marco that Mewni was in fact a matriarchy or a former matriarchy. He had actually kind of liked Jushtin with the fabulous boy actually being rather smart in mathematics despite his strange way of speaking. Solaria on the other hand, well Star had mentioned her a few times with shivers down her spine and now he kind of saw why. After reading the first page of her chapter he already was beginning to see Solaria as a person hell bent on genocide if the Monsters did not go belly up to every unreasonable Mewman request. In fact it felt eerily similar to when he helped Ferguson go through some stuff in his attic and found an old box with a Gestapo uniform in it; needless to say the rest of the day was awkward. Although at the same time it did make Marco wonder what Monsters were like back several hundred years ago. Shaking that thought off Marco continued reading seeing Star had left a note in Solaria's chapter.

 _I was rather uncomfortable reading this chapter because of my heritage but I did it because I needed to. I need to know how these types of people think so I can hopefully change their ways or at least contain them. I don't like Solaria but not just in the normal way; every time I see her image I feel a strange primeval fear run up my spine like she's an Alpha predator and I'm her favorite prey. Don't follow Solaria's example future princesses; learn from her spells but not her ideals._

Marco sighed nodding and continued reading on Solaria's account of the 'Fire and Bone Wars' between Mewmans and Monsters that Solaria led for nearly 30 years. In it he found a collection of three spells that when used together could create the most powerful warriors in the cosmos according to Solaria. He also noted with some shock that Mina was the first one turned amongst a group of volunteers. 'Dang she is old.' Marco thought in shock as he continued to read. Eventually he got to a section that actually outlined different varieties of Monsters with pictures of them next to their descriptions.

Monster Annihilation Techniques

There is a more complete guide of this in the royal library as there are HUNDREDS of different varieties of Monster types and sub-types. The ones listed here are either the most numerous or the most dangerous varieties that I have written down to make sure the ways of fighting them are not forgotten. Show no mercy upon them as they will show you none and believe me when I say this, they are happier this way. _No we are not!_

Kappas _Avians, she can't even get the name right_ : A cowardly mean spirited sort. Easy to kill when they are grounded as their bones are hollow and they try to run first opportunity when they don't have an unfair advantage. There are a good number of them though and their ability to fly makes it so they can swarm you from above at a range. Try grounding them to force a fair fight and use archer snipers with testudo formation when on the battle field. (The image next to it looked like an evil version of Dennis if that was even possible.)

Frog men: Big burly beasts with hides and layers of fat acting like a triple thick Gambeson and bones that can take a beating. Their ability to jump is unmatched, they can navigate swamps with ease setting up ambushes, and their tongues make it so disarming works for only a matter of seconds before they retrieve their weapon. Polearms and crossbows are the best weaponry against them as is tight formations and avoiding swamps. Among the other varieties inparticular show these ones no mercy. (The image next to it showed an image similar to Buff Frog except it had no armor and seemed to be smirking while holding a skull)

Conjoincians: Limited fire control and acidic blood/tears make these creatures rather dangerous if you just rush in. Attack from a range to weaken them or use pikes and long spears to hit them from a safe distance so their blood doesn't hit you. I recommend going for the torso instead of the head as you need to destroy two heads in order to kill them. (What looked like a stereotypical demon but with two heads was gnashing its teeth as it stared at Marco.)

Marco decided to just skim through this section as it made him somewhat uncomfortable to read about creatures like his friends Alexis, Dennis, and Buff Frog being listed like monsters in a game like World of Warcraft. He shook his head trying to stay focused as he continued reading trying to see if there was anything in this section that could prove even remotely useful; he didn't expect much but he couldn't overlook a thing. Solaria listed the Monsters into two sections, common varieties and especially dangerous varieties worth knowing no matter what. There was even the occasional note from Star stating on how some varieties were now extinct thanks to Solaria's blood thirst, which sent a chill up Marco's spine every single time he read them. He came across creatures like Slimes, Felinides, Goblins, Giants, Jurogumo, Băieți, Wolf-kin, Size-shifters, Trigons, Squarriors, Kitsune, and… 'Wait… is that a section devoted to Septarians?' Marco thought to himself a bit shocked as he read the final entry.

Septarian: Perhaps the single most dangerous of Monsters out there, this is the only race that I would use the phrase bred for war on. They can go for days without food or rest, pocess the strength of ten men, and can run at nearly 45 miles per hour for hours on end. They can heal from any wound no matter how severe in a matter of minutes and can even completely regenerate from a single finger within a few months' time with all of their memories intact. They can live for centuries and retain knowledge and skills like sponges retain water never making the same mistake twice. They can master any form of weaponry, strategy, or environment in half the time a Mewman can AT THEIR SLOWEST. They are completely emotionless entities feeling no fear or remorse for their actions and will not hesitate in anything no matter how vile. In times of peace or diplomacy their silver tongues will make most people drop their guard so they can strike their targets at their most vulnerable. As generals of Monsters they can outmaneuver many a Mewman general more times than they are outmaneuvered despite Monsters' lack of discipline.

It is fortunate that there are few of these creatures south of the Kingdom of Gorge lest we be overrun by these powerhouses of Monsters. Aside from powerful magic their only weakness seems to be extreme cold which will put them into a state of temporary hibernation. NO PERMANENT SOLTION KNOWN TO FIGHTING THESE CREATURES. If you encounter them one on one and you don't have a spell to teleport them elsewhere or one powerful enough to blast them to bits, run.

Marco stared at the entry in shock as Solaria had come across as someone completely fearless yet here she was subtly admitting she feared Septarians. 'Well no wonder people in Mewni respect Toffee as king, if he was alone as king they'd likely be too afraid to stand against him.' Marco thought to himself remembering when he had fought Toffee during his initiation as a squire and had been tossed around like a rag doll. He shook his head and continued reading not finding much more in terms of spells or spellcraft except for a spell on how to destroy Rhombulus's crystals. He did feel a pang of sadness for Solaria at the end of the chapter as she seemed full of regret over the bloodshed even though she still viewed Monsters as degenerate beasts. Especially since the main solace in her life seemed to be her daughter Eclipsa… 'Wait, I think I met her after the school dance. She seemed nice.' Marco thought to himself smiling as he moved onto… Festivia's chapter?!

"Ok, I've never read this before and even I know that's not right." Marco thought aloud as he searched for some sort of indicator of what was wrong and found a note from Star.

 _Sorry, Eclipsa's chapter couldn't be moved for some reason; Glossarick won't even let me read it for some strange reason as well. The chapter is located at the very back of the book if you ever figure out how to get him to unlock it for you. While you have it unlocked could you also bring up to this position for me please._ _J_

Marco shook his head at this strange mix up and commenced reading Festivia's chapter hoping to find something to help him out with the wand.

* * *

"Sh-sh-sh-Shadow Clause?!" The ghosts looked at Star in shocked confusion at her sudden fear as the Shadow Clause members nodded with devious chuckles. "But you're supposed to be dead! Aside from Lord Mildrew mom killed you all… oooooohhhhhh." One of the members spoke up with an old woman's voice as the figures began moving towards the group.

"You're far from home mud-blood. Here we were waiting for Moon's and Willow's ghosts to come so we might annihilate their spirits to keep them from polluting the queens of the past, but here you are their most precious treasure wrapped up like a present." As they raised their weapons Danny stepped between Star and the Shadow Clause.

"Don't know who you are, don't know about your history, don't care in the slightest, you are not going to hurt a little girl just because of what her mom did to you!" Danny's fists glowed green with the other ghosts joining him and Dorathea speaking up.

"You dare to go to such lengths just to spite your enemies." She put her necklace on turning into her dragon from roaring at them with a now deep voice. "You will not hurt my friend!" Despite the intimidation performed however the figures just chuckled at the ghosts with the woman speaking up.

"My dears… do you not know who we truly are? The woman began rising in the air with her hooded cloak fluttering around her. "This is the power of Etheria, a true Butterfly." The woman threw off her cloak with a flash of pinkish-purple light revealing a Mewni in butterfly from with six arms, deep silvery rose colored skin with Butterfly wings to match, gray hair, turquoise-grey eyes, and star shaped Mewni marks glowing a greenish color setting off her image eerily. As Star and the ghosts stared up at Etheria Butterfly sister of Willow in shock she smirked at them bringing forth twin dueling swords made out of green light. "Now do step aside my dears and let us exterminate this pest that corrupts the Butterfly line." Sidney spoke to Star.

"Go and figure out how to open the door, we'll distract these bullies." Star hesitated looking between the door and her friends.

This allowed Etheria to shoot beams of lightning from her four free hands striking all of the ghosts and sending them reeling from the force. The other three figures charged forward with Lord Mildrew throwing off his cloak and rushing Star speaking up.

"You remember me my girl…" He was silenced however when a box scoped him up and shook him around like a die with the Box Ghost speaking up in an exaggerated tone.

"Do not dare to contend with the might of the Box Ghost pretty boy. I may be nothing but I can still defeat you." The box was slashed to pieces from the inside to reveal a battered Lord Mildrew with some sort of cutlass and parrying dagger speaking up a bit miffed.

"You my dear factory boy just made a big mistake." He leapt off the ground floating up to the Box Ghost who shot boxes full of items at Mildrew only for him to dodge and cut through them with ease as if he was dancing.

A whump occurred behind Star prompting her to turn and see Dorathea's dragon form had just been pushed to the ground by one of the Shadow Clause. He appeared to be an old man with steely grey eyes, an impressive handlebar mustache that was the same color, hair to match, and a lean but tough physic similar to Sir Lavabo. He was currently holding a war axe glowing a bluish color with some sort of kite shield that seemed the thickness of a heater shield that was glowing some sort of bluish color as well. He turned towards Star floating up in the air and smirked at her as he spoke.

"That blasted Johansen runt destroyed me shield, but I got it back as well as a nice axe." He flipped the war axe before bowing to Star. "Where are my manners, Lord Shcwartzhaffen is my name; and it'll be a pleasure to kill you girl." He righted himself and rushed from the sky to try and hit Star but Dorathea slapped him aside with her tail bellowing out.

"Leave princess alone!" She shot a line of flame at him which he flew at using his shield to plow through the flame as if it was wind.

As he struck Dorathea hard with his axe Star sensed something coming and dodged last minute nearly being sliced into pieces by a whirlwind of blades. Star didn't get any time to rest however as the one who struck at her continued to slice at her with two blades each seemingly made out of some sort of rose colored crystal. Star looked past his black hair to his crazed brown eyes seeing a man caught up in madness as he leapt at Star in an almost suicidal manner speaking up.

"I told Moon *hehe* she could not win, even if she killed me!" As he tried striking at Star some more a blast of grey energy streaked down blasting him back 20 feet with Sidney speaking up.

"Didn't I tell you to get to the door? Now get moving, we'll be fine!" Sidney flew past Star seemingly going ethereal before phasing into the man.

This time Star did not hesitate and ran for the door passing by the honor guard of statues as she tried to figure out how to open the door. Behind her Etheria tried shooting lightning at Star but Danny intercepted it with a glowing green shield. Etheria chuckled and went to strike again but Danny inhaled deeply and let out a ghostly wail that sounded like the end of the world. Etheria was struck by it and was blasted back hard enough to plow into the ground shattering rocks and causing her powers to seemingly shift in and out as if there was an error. Danny chuckled at that before being struck with blue lightning from Schwartzhaffen's axe with him laughing now. Danny got up from the blow only mildly burnt and mad as he rushed Schwartzhaffen full force shooting lasers at him. Schwartzhaffen chuckled as his shield blocked the shots and charged forward smashing Danny to the ground landing on Sidney and the man with the rose colored blades. "Sorry Michelangelo!" Schwartzhaffen called out before he was swatted by Dorathea who looked badly beaten but was still in the fight. She roared at him before random boxes began hitting both of them prompting them to turn and see the Box Ghost and Mildrew were engaged in the strangest of duels with neither of them gaining any ground.

As this was going on Star looked over the door thinking desperately over what could possibly open this door as not only was there no knob, but there didn't even appear to be hinges or a seam. 'Think Star, what could possibly be a part of family history that could be used here?' Star mulled to herself trying desperately to ignore the tension creeping in of her friends and family's enemies fighting each other in the background. She reread the inscription, looked at how the celestial features were aligned, gazed at the position of the butterfly; she had nothing to go off of though. She growled wracking her mind for something, anything that could be useful… 'Wait.'

"The Gift Giver bless you and keep you." Star reached up to a symbol of the Star and pressed on that feeling it shift as if being pressed inward. "Let his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you." She pressed on a symbol of the sun feeling the same depression. "May he look upon you with countenance and give you peace." She pressed on a symbol of the moon feeling it go in with the Butterfly outline glowing a rainbow color. "Oh, so it was a prayer to the cosmos itself that was the key. Good thing I actually remembered that from ancient Mewman Mythology."

Star chuckled as the door pushed itself back with a beam of light coming out of the butterfly to scan Star's face. As it did so her cheek marks lit up with the goat statues around her slamming their weapons into the ground several times in salute. The door then lifted up into the ceiling with Star smiling at the passageway being opened and looked back over her shoulder to see her friends still fighting the Shadow Clause.

"You guys can go now, I'm fine!" Star called out to them with Etheria speaking up.

"NO! Don't let her get inside that…" She was cut off however when Dorathea blasted her down in a wave of flame with Danny speaking up.

"Oh man the fight is almost over already?! I was just starting to have fun." He then blasted Lord Mildrew down with the Box Ghost wrapping him up in bubblewrap and speaking up.

"Go on Star, we'll see you soon enough." Star smiled and ran through the door with it closing behind her. As she did so Danny and the other ghosts took off to a safe distance with Schwartzhaffen slamming on the door with sparks flying.

"Come on, ye don't open fur Etheria yet ye open fur the mud-blood!" As he went to strike again however two of the statues placed their weapons between him and the door glaring at him. "Uhhhhh…" One of the statues then picked him up and drop kicked him away with the ghosts laughing at him and Danny speaking up.

"Next time try going for a worthy opponent sir Loserlot." The ghosts zipped away with Danny speaking to the Box Ghost. "Sorry about the presumption by the way, we cool?" The Box Ghost chuckled and replied.

"Yeah we're cool." As they zipped away Shcwartzhaffen got up glaring at the statues with Etheria coming in close speaking up.

"Cool and collected my friend, we did not truly lose this day." The other members looked at her oddly with Mildrew speaking up.

"Not lose? What are you talking about it was a disaster?" Etheria smiled as she replied.

"Did you hear what the ghost boy Danny said before we engaged; he had to come here from the realm Star was in. That means if there are ways to get in…"

"There are ways to get out." Shcwartzhaffen smiled as he brushed himself off as he spoke. "Perhaps this defeat is a gateway for a greater victory." At this Michelangelo spoke up.

"Then we must follow Danny and see how he got in here; perhaps duplicate it." The others nodded at his idea and took off following Danny. "Say Mildrew you didn't tell us, how was it on Mewni after we left?" He shrugged as he replied.

"Eh, tis a long and rather bloody story… to tell the truth I was possessed for most of it…"

* * *

 **Japanese Fantasy Music - Between Worlds (** **watch?v=EbftqekNkVY)**

"Go into the wand he said, find the thing that doesn't belong he said. Seriously how am I supposed to do that if I'm not even in the wand?" Star spoke to herself while walking down a long corridor through a tunnel with no light as she felt her way along one wall looking for the exit. "Why did he even bring me along in the first place, couldn't he have just magically 'figured out' what doesn't belong?" After what felt like an eternity of feeling along the wall Star finally made contact with what felt like the end of the tunnel. She felt over the 'door' an found a handle after about 15 minutes of searching. "Finally, now what do I have to deal wi-"Star froze in shock as she gazed out from the door taking in her surroundings.

She appeared to be in some sort of maze that was constructed out of 15 foot bookcases open to the clear star filled twilight sky above. Star tentatively stepped out from the door with it closing behind her with a soft whump. After a few steps forward Star looked back behind her to see the door had disappeared leaving only more rows of bookcases. 'Welp, looks like I'm stuck in a library maze.' Star thought to herself as she began moving forward. As she walked through the maze she glanced at the shelves getting several random titles that made it seem like there was no order to the books. _The art of forcing happiness, How to kick your subjects into shape, L'art de faire la fête, 1,000,001 comedic riddles, Landscape drawing for dummies, The knight's code: a beginner's guide, Basic mathematics, Monster hunting 101,_ etc. etc. and so forth. As Star continued to gaze at the surrounding shelves she felt a sense of peace descend upon her as she continued forward, like she was always meant to be here. She even began picking up the occasional book and skimming through it as she moved through the maze looking for some sort of exit, humming to herself ever so quietly .

After what felt like hours or minutes, Star couldn't really tell for some reason, she finally seemed to have reached the 'center' of the maze which appeared to be some sort of mixture of a glade and a reading/toy room. It was filled with rose bushes and yellow sun gladiolas giving the area a fragrant scent that went well with several ornate candle stands and stuffed recliners dotted around the glade that had books scattered all over the place. The main feature of the glade however was a reflecting pool in the very center surrounded by several rings of stones with images carved in them. Star moved over to the pool and looked into it with her relaxed smile faltering with a blink of shock.

"Marco?!" In the pool was an image of Marco reading the book of spells while writing down notes on multiple sticky notes and a white board. "Wait, why are you reading my book of spells; and for that matter how can I see you right now?" Star tried to wrap her head around the situation and was thoroughly confused especially when she say Marco begin to yell at... "Wait, did you touch my wand again?! Seriously I told you to never hold it again unless if you had no other choice." As Star fumed she unconsciously leaned onto one of the stone rings and felt something on the surface. "Huh?" Star looked down to see the image of a bunny's head carved into the stone that began glowing pink. Immediately the stone rings began shifting and moved around like rubix cube pieces until the stone came to rest at the edge of the pool on the other side. "What just happened?" The pool's image began shifting and rippling to reveal the image of a strawberry blond blue eyed girl who was wearing a frilly blue and pink dress and had the images of pink rabbit marks on her cheeks. "Wait, what happened to… hold up… is… that's Crescenta Butterfly?! Wait, why was I looking at Marco and now I'm suddenly looking at my Great-something Grandma?" Star stared at the image with the girl organizing a group of kids in a formal meeting with a mermaid of all people sitting next to her as if a second in command.

 **(end music)**

* * *

"So if the Ultraparticale went through the subnauticus loop and did three spins of a cube… yes yes… Nacho write that down." Nacho nodded and used his snake tail to write some more on the white board that had been set up.

Marco had been reading for what felt like hours at this point as he had gone through Festivia's, Dirrehhennia's, Crescenta's, Rhina's, and Celena's chapters. As he read through those chapters, especially Rhina's, he hadn't found anything like what he was looking for but he had found some guidance tips on how to make your owns spells. He had begun rereading those sections that applied trying to pick stuff apart as best as possible though was having trouble understanding some of the concepts. 'It's like physics applies and yet doesn't apply to most of these situations, could you make up your mind!?' Marco thought to himself in exasperation as he continued to reread looking for answers that made sense. In fact it had gotten to the point where this part of Star's room looked like a conspiracy theorists study room with strings, a white board, and way to many sticky notes to count.

The parts of the chapters that talked about the queens themselves were… interesting so to speak. Festivia was a definite party girl that would likely be at home on earth all things considered. She even just locked away all of the people of her kingdom in her castle while the 'Fire and Bone Wars' continued to rage outside and partied to block it all out. Star commented in this section that she found it odd how Festivia did so well as a queen despite being so immature. One interesting fact he discovered in the book was that both her parents, Eclipsa and Shastican, both died when she was an infant despite him having met Eclipsa not so long ago. He would have pondered that but his girlfriend and bestie was still trapped in the wand and he needed to figure out how to get her out. All things considered though he kind of like Festivia despite her immaturity and she did keep the kingdom running, unlike her first daughter Dirrehhennia. That girl was such a horrific slacker and slob Festivia of all people found her unworthy of the throne and passed it onto her sister. 'Heh, sounds like what would happen if Oskar was an heir to the throne.' Marco thought in wry amusement.

The next one up actually provided him some help, Crescenta the Eager. Now she seemed like a master ruler and an expert spell maker, which was helping him out, but after reading her chapter he felt like she was a bad person; narcissistic to be specific. She messed with Monster politics to set up the Avarius's as the leaders of a Monster confederation that was her puppet, condemmed any Monster Druid as a poisoner of Mewni, started the Guardians of Mewni to excessively harass Mewmans for not following 'social conduct', helped a group known as The Shadow Clause to set up a spy network to constantly watch the kingdom like a totalitarian state, and even had her own sister arrested when she came home simply because she smelled bad. Star commented on how the Shadow Clause has long since been defeated, the Guardians are now a good police force, and how the Monsters are now truly one with the Mewman kingdom with 'equal' rights and the Druids are now supported by the crown. She also spoke about how one should not try to use ANY of Crescenta's spells aside from Levitato or a spell to severely reduce the time needed to sleep, nicknamed The Sleepless Spell. This chapter did provide some advice on how to make a spell but it was limited as she kept on going on about how gifted and special and hardworking she was to make so many spells, numbering in the thousands supposedly.

Rhina's chapter was mostly uneventful in terms of occurrences but did have plenty of spell construction ideas that Marco had been trying to exploit. Of course this was even more difficult because she tried putting everything into riddles so he had to play Bilbo in 'The Hobbit' and try to figure out what was being said in the first place. He did get the idea however, through her reminiscing of a red thread around her wrist that was supposed to be a reminder of something, that even she was not entirely sure of what she was saying at times. The next queen Celena the Shy did have some advice for spell making as well but it was mostly involving potions and songs like what you would find in a Wiccan spellcraft book; even down to a Mewni equivalent of zodiac signs called the corn castle and a deck of tarot cards of all things. While her life seemed uneventful as well she actually seemed quite similar to Star in many ways with being shy and more introverted. Star actually commented that she really liked Celena's chapter as it felt warm and comforting to read it and Marco had to agree with her.

However none of that was his concern as he was trying to figure out how to actually use the advice given to him in the first place. He adjusted some of the string connecting two different drawings together to connect them to a third picture with a caption underneath it. He groaned in frustration and stamped his foot down turning his bag rimmed eyes towards the wand with a glare.

"I know it's my fault but couldn't you help me out?!" Nacho looked up in confusion seeing a rattled Marco staring down the wand. "Don't you stare at me like that, I know you possess all of the answers!" Nacho looked back and forth clearly concerned for Marco's wellbeing at this point. "Nothing, the book has nothing straightforward; act as a translator already!" He picked up the wand yelling at it. "Act as a translator al-" Marco was cut off when the wand suddenly sparked and flashed changing shape in Marco's hands prompting him to drop it. He stared at the wand, now shaped like Star's wand except pink with yellow sweeping swan's wings and a triple layered heart at the end with a pink heart shaped crystal at the center, before looking up at Nacho. "Did that just happen?" Nacho nodded cowering behind a pile of loose notes.

* * *

Glossarick had been running for what felt like hours with sweat trailing down his brow and finally he saw the end of his run at the top of the stairs. Giving out a gasp of triumph he went to leap for the door but he suddenly felt a 'shift' that made him lose focus and slammed into the door head first. He tried getting his balance again but the exhaustion from climbing made him unstable and he began falling down the stairs. "NononoNONOOOOO!" He scrabbled desperately at the stairs as he fell hoping to avoid losing too much progress.

 **Audience: Now its time for 'Guest Reviews'**

 **Lord Demon: Not in this chapter, but perhaps in the future. *wink wink nudge nudge***

 **The Book of Eli: Yep, somedays you just can't get rid of bad guy! Of course I'd call back to Danyy Phantom, I love Danny Phantom. And you are right... get to it Marco!**

 **Unamed/Turtle: I'm assuming you're the same guy, thank you for reading all the way through. I love all the comments you gave and what's more YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT THE OCTOPUS WAS DURING THE SCHOOL DANCE! I thought no one would get that reference to be honest, but you did! Keep on reading and commenting as I love it when people get involved like you just did.**


	83. Intermission 3

**Ominitraxus: Are you sure its a good idea to break an episode in half to speak up?**

 **WH: Nope, but I'm gonna do it anyways. *Ahem* People as of the posting of this chapter Star vs The Forces of Evil has just had its series finale and I have seen every single episode. Honestly looking back on it this was a WELL above average show, except for the Love Triangle Ship War nonsense from season three and four, especially the first third of season four. Regardless I'm not sad it's going, I'm happy that it even existed in the first place. After all without it, this story would never have existed and I would have never met any of you in the first place. :) Now for those of you looking to fill in the void of Star vs. with fanfictions, well mine is good but perhaps you want a bit of variety and stuff to tide you over until I post again. So for now here are my personal favorite Star vs. fanfictions.**

 **Light of the Sun and Stars: A complete AU that is action packed, funny, original, sweet, and even doesn't skimp on the dark stuff as in this one Marco was raised by Monsters originally who were under the thumb of Toffee, yes I'm ok with him being just the bad guy, until one day he was broken out and met with Star Butterfly. She has to rule the kingdom while her parents fight a losing war with the Monsters. A definite 9.5/10.**

 **Moon and Star vs the force of evil: I love the first part of this story, even being able to overlook the love triangle, but I'm a bit unsure of the second part. I mean its not just the way the story is going, which is questionable, but my GOD does it get slow. I mean I get what he's trying to do with the story but this is so slow its painful. And what's more I suspect he's not really going to begin writing it again in a while. But skipping the second part and the first chapter, which is just him ranting about what he hates in the canon show, it is a really good and original story with plenty of humor and world building for a world where Moon and Star are actually twin sisters instead of Mother and Daughter. 1st part is a 8.5/10 but the rest lowers it to a 6/10. Really good for your own fanfic ideas however.**

 **My Cadence: A smut oneshot I just can't overlook this one simply because of how SWEET it is. It is excellent in the erotica department and does a fantastic job of establishing character in such a short period of time for the five characters you do see, despite it bashing on Tom a bit even though if he hadn't developed character-wise it would have made sense in canon. When you look at these characters you see the people you know and love from the show done well in this AU where Marco is Star's bodyguard in Mewni instead of her guide on earth. 10/10 no questions asked.**

 **Star and Marcia Vs The Forces of Evil: How did I not know of this story until just one month ago? An Au where just Marco is gender swapped into being a girl and follows to original show closely. This original concept changes just one thing initially but like my work it explores what could happen with just that one change. It follows the show closely, too closely for some people probably, but the few times it does divert from canon it is original and some of the best writing in the story; and what's more the amount of it is increasing as time goes by. However this show follows Marcia's perspective almost exclusively for better or for worse; mostly for better though. Honestly though the best part is the shipping of Tom x Marcia, can't wait to see that take center stage eventually. A solid 8.5/10 through and through.**

 **Echoes of Screams: By all accounts I should hate the fanfic as it is just another depressing story meant to make you feel 'sorry' for the main characters as life shows no mercy to them in horrific ways (rated M for a reason). But... this one succeeds where others have failed simply because it takes the time to flesh out the characters and shows that good things can happen to them in this dark world giving us genuine hope for them. The relationship between Star and Marco in this AU is perfect and its also one of the few where Toffee is a good guy actually helping them out when the going gets tough at one point. A decent 8/10, be warned it is a bit cringy at times so use caution.**

 **The Royal Protector: I know a bit cliche to post this one but how could I not, this is one that EVERYONE talks about and I can see why. This is the BEST AU about Star being sent to St. Olga's and the impacts it has on everyone in the show. It also, while showing Toffee as the bad guy, puts him in a sympathetic light like he's an Anti-Villain instead of just a straight villain. River is actually depicted in a good light as well, actually giving the man some dignity and a sense of responsibility instead of just making him a man-child. Everyone in this AU is fleshed out well and even the World-Building is AMAZING to the point where I wished this was what the actual canon world was like until I came up with my own. A definite 9/10 for the win.**

 **One Shots, Premises, and Request Delivery: A bit unusual as this one is basically a collection of story ideas and one-shots created by the now gone** **the17thcolossus. This one is hit and miss but the hits are fantastic and the misses are usually passable enough to overlook. This is a FANTASTIC place to get ideas for your own stories and I'm kind of sad this one did not write more complete stories with some of these ideas. Oh and he is a JannaxMarco shipper so if you want some of that this is the place to look for it. The final one shot is actually very clever in making itself the final one to the point where I am not gonna tell you a thing about it. Check out this strangely unrateable piece of work and rate for yourself if you can.**

 **Also as of this point I am going to be posting several short stories that go along with 'Star the Monster Princess' but are not vital for the plot so they are being kept separate because they are too extensive to be a single episode. They will be listed as they are being posted starting with 'Dorks and Dragons' description pending. Oneshots are also coming back at long last starting with '** **Solaria's** **Monster Annihilation Techniques' to flesh out the section Marco read in the book of spells a bit more. Why, because I want to.**

 **Enjoy your day and remember, the show never truly ends as long as there are people like us to keep it going!**


	84. Of Wands, Books, and Councils Pt 4

"Yes… mine mine mine!" Star was snapped out of her confusion to see a ghostly grey like image of Crescenta rush out from… somewhere and tried leaping into the pool only to bounce back as if it was a trampoline. "NOOOOOOO! So close to being queen again!" She landed in an armchair with it falling onto its back.

"Wha-" Star looked around in shock trying to figure out what just happened to see figures in the shadows now staring at her. "Ummmmm…" A figure called from the side apparently at Crescenta.

"Don't you remember, you can only go into the wand if you have a life force like that of a living being, remember?" Star blinked in confusion as Crescenta stood back up and yelling back.

"I got a little overeager ok, it's kind of my one flaw." She brushed herself off as Star spoke up.

"Ok, what just happened with the pool and what is going on; for that matter who are all of you?!" Star pointed around at the figures which she noticed seemed to be in various states of blurriness with some being completely there, albite grey in color, all the way to others being nothing more than smudges.

"Oh that's so easy a termite could figure it out." Crescenta spoke up taking a sweet pose and smiling at Star. "That there is the pool of memories of each past wielder of the Butterfly wand. The memories of every single past Butterfly can be accessed by a member of the Butterfly who comes to visit the land of past Butterflies while they are still living." Star blinked in confusion as the wheels turned in her head.

"Ooooookaaa… oh right this is where my ancestors are!" Crescenta nodded blinking sweetly as the other figures milled about on the edges. "Actually this is good, can you guys tell me how to get back into my wand? I was in there with Glossarick because it was tainted and…"

"Of course it was tainted you were the one using it you freak of nature!" Star blinked in confusion and turned… only to have her blood run cold. Standing behind her was a woman with a shaved head on both sides with a long braid running down from the top, had thunderbolts on her cheeks, was powerfully built, and was wearing light plate armor; Solaria the Monster Carver. "I mean a half-breed of all things wielding the wand!? How far has our line stooped to fall to this point!?" Crescenta waved her hand shushing Solaria.

"Easy there, let me answer her questions first." She turned to a now terrified Star still smiling sweetly. "You can go back into the wand by finding your symbol on the rings of stone and pushing it into the selection position." She pointed to where the stone Star had pressed had gone up to the pool. "However you also need a life force in order to push the stones properly to bypass the current user of the wand and pass by the pool's barrier to go into the wand. So if it is not too much trouble I'll be taking your life-force now to put Mewni on the right track as you chose mine and I am the best queen that has ever existed." Star blinked in shock as the fear grew.

"Wait take my life force? Does that involve…" Star looked back and forth between Solaria, who was smiling like a predator, and Crescenta, who was smiling sweetly. "You can't do that, I'm your descendant and someone's going to notice I'm gone!" Crescenta giggled at that and spoke up.

"Oh don't worry about that, we will just get your body and 'alter it' in order for it to be pure Mewman pinning the blame on being sent into the wand cleansing us of your 'impurities'. And with a full access to your memories we can act just like you so don't worry, no one will know the difference." Star backed up with the two closing in around her with their arms growing creepily long…

"Shtop." The three stopped in confusion a one figure who was mostly a blur, except for a feathered cap, stepped forward from the shadows speaking up with a man's voice."Shister, our time iz done. Perhaps this is wha Mewni…" Solaria turned on the figure glaring at him.

"Normally I would agree with you Jushtin BUT JUST LOOK AT HER!" She gestured to Star who was now holding her tail in close and desperately looking for an exit. "Do you want to leave the kingdom with a HALF-BREED of all things?" Jushtin shrugged, as best he could considering he was a blur, and replied.

"Maybe tha Munsters ain't so bad now. Times change right?" Solaria was now fuming with anger as she replied.

"After all the Monsters did to us, after all the killing and destruction they caused us as we were looking for a home, you are going to just FORGIVE THEM!" Star began backing away quietly as the two figures yelled at each other before being intercepted by Crescenta.

"Uh uh uh, I still need my life force girl." Crescenta's arms grew and tried wrapping around Star who literately slithered out of her grasp. "Seriously, you can slither? Solaria stop arguing with your brother and come help kill this hybrid!" Solaria however was completely caught up in debating why Monsters were subhuman with Jushtin who was just nodding and offering words occasionally. "Grrrr, she may be good at killing but she is an idiot when it comes to dealing with people who won't just follow her. That's why I am the best." She turned to follow Star who was now on top of a bookcase. "Well then…" Her arms shot forward hitting the bookcase hard enough to make it fall over. Star leapt from that bookcase over to one right next to it avoiding the domino effect that had started. "Oh COME ON!" She turned towards Star who was now yellow eyed and ready to move on a hair trigger. "Well looks like you are…"

"Enough girl, haven't you done enough already!" Crescenta froze before turning to see a woman with black hair, four pointed Star shaped Mewni marks, wearing a goat's horn headband, and seemed somewhat blurred out stepped forward. "I get when you were queen you did what you thought was best but your time is done. I raised you better than this!" Crescenta turned on the woman speaking up to her.

"Of course you did, that's why I'm better then you! You were always hosting a party, always letting rules be broken, always letting peasants trash the kingdom, always being lax in your rule; I whipped this nation into the shape it needed to be and needs to be whipped into again." The woman just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes before replying.

"Oh sure whipped into shape; a whipping here and a whipping there all because someone failed to eat their corn in the proper manner. Life isn't just about rules and following orders my girl."

Star watched the interesting family debates spring up between the two pairs and cocked her head to the side in confusion. One minute the two were hell bent on killing her to gain her life essence the next they were justifying themselves to their family completely ignoring her. As Star watched them she heard a *psst* from the side and turned to see Soupina, even having color in her marks and hair, gesture for Star come in her direction. Star hesitated for a second before leaping down from the bookcase and moving in her direction. Star made it to a now smiling Soupina who was pointing at a pink heart shaped symbol that mimicked Star's cheek marks with Star smiling at and whispering to Soupina.

"Thank you grandma." Soupina then hugged Star close before pulling away and offering another sweet smile. Star pressed on the symbol with it lighting up and moving towards the position Crescenta's mark was at now… making a lot of noise and attracting her attention as well.

"HEY!" Star looked up seeing Crescenta running at her full speed with the figure she was arguing with earlier yelling at her.

"You get back here right now girl, we're not finished here!" Crescenta extended her arms out swiping them at Star with her ducking under them pressing on two more stones by accident, prompting them to follow Star's up to the pool. Crescenta's arms on the other hand kept on going and hit Soupina face first sending her flying into a book case.

"Oh… sorry." Star growled her eyes going cat-pupil yellow before she growled at Crescenta.

"You rotten Narcissistic bitch. You hurt Soupina of all people; I don't care if you're my ancestor and a ghost you're going down!" Star leapt at Crescenta slamming into her like a football tackle.

Crescenta tried wrapping her arms around Star to try and strangle her but Star simply bit one of the arms with Crescenta crying out in pain. Her arms slacked off with Star lifting Crescenta over her head and slamming her into the ground hard enough to send vibrations out. Star hissed at Crescenta who hissed back before her cheeks lit up with pink energy engulfing Star and shocking her with some sort of lightning. Star reeled from the attack with Crescenta summoning more pink energy and shooting pink icicles of some sort impaling Star. At this point Solaria finally had detached herself from Jushtin's conversation to see Star be impaled with both her and Crescenta smirking. Their smirks fell however when Star began chuckling and calmly removed the spikes from her with the wounds healing up in front of their eyes. Star then rushed forward again throwing an elbow into Crescenta's solar plexus the wind knocking from her and throwing her to the ground.

"Come on, and here I was actually afraid of you for a minute there." Star gazed down on Crescenta who tried to summon more pink energy and failed.

"Septarian… that's what her Monster half is." Star turned to look at Solaria with her confidence shriveling up at Solaria's glare. "Well at least your mother has enough taste to go for the 'best' amongst those animals. No matter, despite what you may have found in the book of spells there is a way to permanently kill a Septarian. Their regeneration has a limit for their lifetime so all you need to do is just hack them to pieces until their regeneration runs out no matter how long it takes!" Solaria leapt at Star summoning forth a fiery sword bringing it down on Star.

"NO!" The blow would have landed on Star despite her leaping aside with superhuman reflexes but Jushtin leapt in at the last second and pushed the blade aside just enough for it to miss Star.

As the sword struck the ground a wave of fiery energy went flying out striking the reflecting pool and shattering rocks all around it sending shards flying. As everyone shielded their eyes the final rock Star had pressed was about to slide into place but the force of the blow sent it flying out of its groove. The pool, which was now leaking from the bed it was in into the surrounding clearing, began 'beeping' with a purplish cloudiness spreading over it clouding the waters. As that happened the rings of rocks began shimmering with energy and tried to rotate but with them being damaged it only ground the stones together sending some of them flying around like shrapnel. All the blurry figures leapt for cover with Star jumping behind a stuffed chair and watched as the memories began malfunctioning. Rocks were thrown around with many plopping into the pool causing memories of different princesses to flash by in a blur stirring up the waters even more. As that happened Jushtin turned towards Solaria, they were hiding behind a bed of flowers, and spoke up.

"Oh now you's done it."

* * *

Glossarick struggled to stand back up exhausted from his sprint up the stairs and made it back up only to be struck by the same strange feeling again and was thrown onto his back. Of course given his overly large legs Glossarick began falling down the stairs due to imbalance and tumbled over himself.

"GAH!" As Glossarick screamed trying to right himself that feeling snapped at him a second time this time actually helping him stop himself. "Ok, enough of this no-magic crap. I'm getting through that door one way…" Suddenly he was hit with that feeling several times all at once if that was possible and it threw him off balance again. This time however it threw him right off the rail-less staircase and down to the very bottom at full speed. Glossarick tried to use magic to right himself but the weird sensations kept on bouncing him about in midair throwing off his focus. "NOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

"Ok, so the wand just turned into a different wand… that is either really good or really bad." Nacho mewed in worry as Marco took a few steps towards the wand to get a better look at it. "Hmmm, it actually seems familiar for some reason. Let me see." Marco turned back towards the Book of Spells and flipped through it for a second back to the beginning of Crescenta's chapter. "Of course, this is Crescenta's wand. But wait, she's been dead for literal centuries how would the wand…" Suddenly the wand changed appearance again turning into Star's wand. "…" He looked at Nacho who looked back at him worried. "… ok, is it back to norm…" the wand shifted and contorted again changing into some sort of cane with a crocodile's head as the handle. "… spoke too soon." The crocodile on the end of it actually began speaking.

"Heeeeeey waz-up homies? Is Tha Crew back toge- wait dis ain't Mewni. And you ain't Jushtin." Marco and Nacho looked at each other in as much confusion as worry with Nacho mewing at the cane. "Oh a kitty, heeey there kitty. Wish I coudz pet you but I gotz no handz." Marco stared ahead deadpan as he spoke.

"Ok so now the royal wand is a cane with a talking crocodiles head on it that sounds like a wannabe rapper; what's next?" At those words the wand lit up in a blaze of rainbow light with the crocodile yelling.

"Oh Godz I feelz so alIIIIIIIVVE!" At that the wand began changing shapes multiple times in front of Marco's eyes.

First it became the handle to some sort of sword with thunderbolts carved into it. Then it became a purple fan with white crescent moons all over it and a small diamond gem glowing in the center. Then it became some sort of multi-colored crystal covered rolling pin with hearts and wings on parts of it. Then it turned into some sort of clear crystal rubix cube with a red fist in the center of it floating over something that looked like a rune covered blue and gold glass cutter. And the form began changing too fast for Marco to keep up with the constantly changing shapes with a brilliant white light coming off of it every transformation. As the transformations kept coming Marco began to panic and curled up next to the book talking to himself.

"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do…"

* * *

The pool was now swirling with the purple mist and memories of past princesses enough to create a whirlpool that was beginning to emerge from the pool bed. The blurred figures of Star ancestors held onto whatever they could for dear life as the pool seemed to want to suck them up into its vortex of memories and mist. Star peaked over the chair she was hiding behind finding she was not being lifted up towards the pool for some reason trying to find out how to stop this if she could. As Star scanned the glade she spotted Soupina hanging on for dear unlife to the bookcase she was knocked against prompting Star to rush and help her. Soupina almost lost her grip on the case before Star grabbed her with a smile on both their faces. However the vortex began sucking harder prompting Star to grab onto something last second to stabilize herself… and grabbed onto a large candle holder that did next to nothing.

"Oh come on!" Star shouted as the vortex began slowly dragging Soupina, the struggling Star, and the candle stick towards itself.

* * *

"…what I do, what do I do, what do I…" Marco's words were interrupted by a crocodile's head being thrown out of the flashes of light landing next to Marco. "Gah!"

"Oh hey waz up hoodie boy? You likin tha show? Iz a wild ride in there." Marco glanced at the wand before randomly yelling.

"Star is trapped in the wand, what do I do?!" The crocodile head suddenly became interested in Marco.

"Wai, iz dis Star a princess?" Marco nodded with the head getting a serious look on its face. "Ok, waz you need to do iz calm it down." Marco turned towards the head with an exasperated look on his face.

"HOW!"

"I don know, zing it a lullaby I guess. Dis iz attached tu emutions you know." Marco blinked with all the information he had gathered from the various chapters suddenly making sense.

"Tha-that was the missing element; emotion?" Marco turned back towards the corner of his research before turning back towards the wand. "Of course, everything is based off of the feeling put into the actions and words cast into the spell. They may not mean anything for someone studying the spell but to the ones making it every word and action has a purpose in their minds; that's why it wasn't making any sense. EUREKA!" Marco threw his hands in the air in victory with Nacho mewing in annoyance.

"I gotz to agree wit tha kitty; you gotz tu do somezing now!" Marco blinked coming back to reality.

"Right."

Marco took a deep steadying breath and got up approaching the wand shielding his eyes from the light constantly coming off of it and the strange shapes it was taking. Marco wracked his mind looking for anything he could use as a calming spell to try and fix the wand making it the way it was supposed to be. He tried thinking of times where he was emotionally secure and calm and coming back to where he was supposed to be to channel the magic. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out taking a meditation pose and using Mina's teaching to not think and just feel to get a good idea. Through his mind came an image of him and Star curled up under a blanket watching Beauty and the Beast after he had accepted Star's confession making him smile. Images of his extended family gathering together for reunions came to his mind making him smile even more especially with his older cousin Bobby. Images of his grandma singing him a lullaby in Spanish that he was even surprised he was remembering until images of Angie learning Spanish simply so she could sing the lullaby came in. Marco's smile grew peaceful and content as he began speaking. He didn't use the lullaby but instead let words just flow from his mouth that made sense for the moment while using the lullaby's singing tone.

"Pequeña estrella, pequeña estrella. Vuelve a casa, deja toda tu confusión caer y Deja que tu verdadero ser brille." The flashing lights stopped flashing and instead stabilizing on a bright white. "Pequeña estrella, pequeña estrella. Vuelve a casa, deja toda tu confusión caer y Deja que tu verdadero ser brille." His cheeks began glowing as crescent shaped marks emerged on his cheeks. "Pequeña estrella, pequeña estrella. Vuelve a casa, deja toda tu confusión caer y Deja que tu verdadero ser brille." Marco then reached out and touched the wand speaking for a final time opening his eyes which now had a faint pinkish glow to them. "Pequeña estrella, pequeña estrella. Vuelve a casa, deja toda tu confusión caer y Deja que tu verdadero ser brille."

The wand's light wavered for just a second before giving out one final flash before dying down and going away to reveal Star's wand was now lying on the floor. Marco smiled and turned back towards Nacho, who seemed relived, and the head which spoke up in an impressed tone.

"That'll do kid, that'll do."

* * *

"AHHHHHHH!" Glossarick fell down towards the bottom feeling the strange sensations suddenly go away but too late for him to stop his fall.

He did manage to use his magic to redirect the energy so he didn't make a crater when he impacted and instead just bounced out through the door. He flew past the desk nearly hitting Shaun and bounced around for a second before finally coming to a stop. Shaun stared at him for a second before speaking up.

"Sorry about the stairs not taking you to the top floor sir, they're on the fritz too. But there's free muffins in in the lobby." Glossarick pulled himself up and shook himself off before turning towards Shaun.

"Well does the fritz impact the mental state of creatures like myself to disorient and confuse us because that's what happened." Shaun rubbed his chin for a second before replying.

"Wait, what do you mean by that? It hasn't affected anyone like that." Glossarick went to reply but paused.

"Then why did you say the fritz affected the…" A look of realization crossed Glossarick's face as Shaun began to cower in fear. "… you knew the stairs were broken and sent me up there regardless?!" Shaun replied with a squeak.

"You asked for stairs so I gave them to you sir. But there are still free muffins…" Glossarick fumed with anger and began levitating while speaking in some sort of dead language. "Um sir, no magic is allowed…" Glossarick shot him with a stream of energy as the chanting got more intense.

Finally after a few seconds the whole bottom floor seemed to lift up and slide up the tower to the top floor by itself. The floor impacted with a loud bang and threw everyone in the floor around like dice as a *ding* sound came from the elevator of all things. Glossarick took a deep breath to calm himself and floated past a now unconscious Shaun to the meeting room and threw the doors open with magic. Inside was a long table with four figures on the end away from Glossarick: Rhombulus, Heckapoo, Lekmet, and Omnitraxus Prime in his crystal ball. He glared across the room at the Magical High Commission intent on getting this over with as Heckapoo spoke up.

"You are probably wondering why we brought you here." Glossarick spoke up to this.

"I don't have the time to wonder about what petty reason you summoned me here for as I just want this done with so I can go back to what I was doing." At this Rhombulus glared back at Glossarick and pointed at him accusingly.

"Petty. You think we would summon you here for something petty?!"

"Well if the shoe fits…" Rhombulus didn't even let Glossarick finish his sentence before replying.

"The only reason why it's 'petty' is because you don't give a shit about anything!" He then shot a line of crystal at Glossarick crystalizing him solid with Heckapoo speaking up.

"Seriously, you just had to go and do that?!" Rhombulus turned on her replying.

"I'm not gonna just stand here and take his insults; why would I?!"

"Because you just acted like a five year old you dumbass!" At that Lekmet bleated with a translator around his neck trying to translate his words but failing. "What did he say?" Heckapoo looked at Rhombulus who looked a little ashamed suddenly.

"Well this is important Lekmet especially since Moon called this meeting in the first place. HE needs to stop being so immature as well." At that a voice sounded from the crystal ball. "Uh what did he say?" Heckapoo leaned in closer and listened to the faint whisper before replying.

"He said something about how Glossarick hasn't gotten out of his crystal yet." They all turned to see he was still entrapped. "He's usually out of that in a matter of seconds." Rhombulus's back straightened and he puffed out his chest.

"Well 600 years of training are finally paying off." Everyone glared at him with his voice getting a grim tone of acceptance. "Fine I'll uncrystalize…" He was interrupted by the crystal cracking. "… him." The crystal cracked slowly for a full 15 seconds until it finally burst apart with a now gasping Glossarick floating there. He looked at Rhombulus glaring with a renewed vigor.

"Are you going to deal with whatever you summoned me here for or are you just going to flaunt off your improved but not good enough abilities." At this Rhombulus fully lost his temper and roared at Glossarick shooting more beams at him. Glossarick was ready this time however and dodged the beams shooting magic from the gem in his forehead at Rhombulus hitting him in the chest. "You called me up here…" Rhombulus barely even flinched at the blow that would have pushed aside a rhino and leapt at Glossarick bringing his snake hands down on him. Glossarick nimbly floated out of the way and shot another beam at Rhombulus's legs this time making him stumble. "… while I was doing my job…" As Rhombulus stood back up Glossarick formed a pink colored crystal hammer and brought it down on Rhombulus smacking him to the ground. "… and don't bother to deal with these 'issues' making it difficult for me…"

"Exactly Glossarick." Gossarick froze mid-strike with Rhombulus looking up as well as Moon stepped into the room. "This about both the issues and your job." Rhombulus got up and both him and Glossarick bowed to Moon.

R: "Your Majesty."

G: "My Liege."

 **Psst. I'd like to apologize as in the Intermission I recommended a story that it turns out was not only deleted but the author is gone as well. 'Moon and Star vs the Forces of Evil' is no longer up. Because of that I'd like to make a few more recommendations to tide you over.**

 **'Burden of the Mighty': Yes it's short and the author has not published any chapters for awhile but this is honestly a good MonStar story. That's right, I'm not the only one who adheres to the MoonxToffee ship still. The author actually asked me for guidance when writing his story, not as a beta reader though he already has that, and a lot is planned out for the future. Hopefully he and his partner can continue writing this. It holds the same spirit of the show yet changes the process enough to make it a new story completely. I would give it, if it wasn't short and incomplete, an 8/10. Please resume it please.*If you are a girl a do apologize for this review***

 **'The Butterfly Swap': A fic about Eclipsa actually being sent to earth instead of Star to meet with Marco. And yes I know what you're thinking, but aren't they separated by like 300 years or so; well just alter the timelines a bit so Eclipsa falls in the 21st century and your good. The author has enough creative license for that don't they? This story is INCREDIBLY original in it's thought and it stands out as just being a good idea. Yes it's short and hasn't been updated for awhile but it's still fairly good if nothign else then for the idea. 8.5/10 and please resume it Allen Vth; I get you are busy but it's been MONTHS since you published any chapters for any of your stories.**

 **'A Tale of Moon and Monsters': Yes this is cheating as I did write this story myself but let's face it it's the ONLY story ever written that explains how Moon and Toffee got together; sort of like an altered 'Moon the Undaunted' episode. The grammar is bad, the writing is 'average', and the author didn't know what he was doing at first and may have written himself in corners, but the shear emotional commitment to this and the characters he brings to life are well worth it. Plus it explains bits of 'Star the Monster Princess' really well even though it functions more like a prequel then this as a sequel. 8/10 but rate it yourself as I may not be a proper judge.**


	85. Of Wands, Books, and Councils Pt 5

**First off, I had trouble finding good place to divide this chapter so I left it in one large piece. Second, the next month is going to be INCREDIBLY erratic because of scheduling; don't even try to contact me from the 14th until the 23rd because I will be on vacation at the time.**

 **Ok with all that out of the way, let's finish up this 'episode'.**

Star shifted as her mind came back from a state of absolute blackness and tried blinking her eyes open unsuccessfully. Star groaned reaching up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes trying to come fully awake and deal with a splitting headache. Sitting up she grabbed her neck and popped it several times before focusing her healing and making the headache go away. Sighing in relief she yawned and stretched freezing in mid-stretch as a sound of shifting stone came from above her. Looking up she saw an opening appear in the ceiling of wherever she was and enlarged into some sort of Star shape sheading light down on her and everywhere else. Star blinked fully coming awake and gazed around at a room full of tapestries with strange symbols carved into the ceilings above the tapestries.

"Where am I?" Star looked around in confusion until she began recognizing some of the figures on the tapestries. "Wait, this is the grandma room! No no no this is not good. What if I'm still back in… wait how did I get here?" Star sat down and began thinking with memories coming to her in bits and pieces.

* * *

 _The tornado of purple smoky water swirled intensely drawing everything into its grasp with the blurred figures holding on for dear unlife. Star gripped onto Soupina's hand and grasped onto the candle stick hoping to think of something in her situation but nothing was coming. As it felt like Star was about to lose her grip suddenly the tornado seemed to pulse and just began to swirl in the opposite direction. The suction didn't stop and if anything got worse which Star experienced firsthand when something smacked into her head. She lost her concentration and let go of the candle stick with both her and Soupina being thrown into the storm which was now taking on a reddish color. Star and Soupina held onto each other desperately as the storm whipped them about with another sudden pulse pushing Star and Soupina into the edges of the storm. Seeing the other blurred ghosts of her ancestors no longer being affected by the storm Star realized it was abating and that now was the time to get out if they could. The issue was there was nothing to grab onto or launch off of so Star and Soupina could… 'There is one thing I could do.' Star thought to herself.' Steeling herself for what was about to happen Star grabbed onto Soupina and twirled them around so she could slingshot Soupina out of the effects of the storm, in the process flinging herself deeper into it. As Star was buffeted by the winds of magic another pulse came out smelling of nachos, watermelon shampoo, and her grandma's cooking. Star blinked in confusion as she heard words being whispered sounding like a lullaby as the storm now seemed to be almost cradling her gently instead of buffeting her about. Star smiled getting the feeling everything was going to be ok now and curled up as a fourth pulse hit sending her to unconsciousness._

* * *

"Ok so I traded a second weird world for a third one, but why does it contain the grandma room?" Star was snapped out her train of thought when pedestals of varying shapes began rising up out of the ground in front of a respective tapestry. "Huh?" The one closest to Star immediately lit up with Star reading the words on it. "Celera the Shy… oh great-great-grandmother Shy. _What hides behind the golden fan the hand does sweetly hold, a cosmic trove of secrets that never will be told_. Aw, I didn't get to meet you in the land of the ancestors I really wanted to meet you above all the others except for Soupina." That's when a thought struck Star. "Wait, I did sneak into the grandma room once when I was little and I was sucked into the pool. Maybe I'm finally back in my wand and I can find the thing that doesn't belong at last." As Star stood up another pedestal lite up prompting Star to read it. "Huh. _A castle stormed is a hero born with might as strong as steel. Kneels the void before her and the crushing force she wields_." Star looked up from it and shivered when she saw Solaria's tapestry with said woman laying waste to a group of Monsters around her. "If I never see you again it will still be too soon. Now then let's find the thing that doesn't belong."

Star went to look through the tapestries but was stopped when her eyes fell upon another lit up pedestal, this one her grandmother's. Star hopped over really quickly taking a read.

" _The magic of the kitchen, happiness, and peace were what made her as a chef princess incomparable. But denial and pain made the puppet abandon them and become as a queen and mother intolerable."_ Star looked up seeing two split images with one of Willow as a teenager cooking with her rolling pin wand and a smile on her face. The other was of an older woman who was tall, slightly heavyset, pale as if with powder or cream all over her face, appeared to have a permanent scowl on her face made deeper by the purple spade shaped Mewni marks on her cheeks, had watery grey eyes, and even purplish hair. That image also had puppet strings attached to her going up to the top of the picture disappearing into shadows. "That's… what grandma looked like when mom was a kid?" Star was shocked at the duality of those images. "Wow, no wonder the book of spells had her chapter divided into two parts; she looks like a completely different person when she ruled."

With this sobering news Star finally started on looking through the tapestries going through them thoroughly; even searching Solaria's tapestry thankful that her eyes were closed in the image. After a while of searching Star came across a tapestry that looked really familiar…

"Wait, this is mom's tapestry!" Star looked up taking in her mother's image.

In the forefront was an image of Toffee standing at attention and wearing a type of black and red armor that left his arms exposed and had skulls over his shoulders. He was also bearing a silver sickle shaped sword with strange runes carved into the blade with a handle made of black bone and a pommel of amethyst set in a mesh of silver antlers. Slightly behind him and floating in the air was her mother in what could be called 'Butterfly Form' with six arms, a pair of gigantic Indigo colored butterfly/moth wings, her skin a silvery bluish color (in fact somewhat similar to Toffee's skin),with two antenna sticking out of her head, and wearing battle armor. Out of three of her hands on the right side came beams of light that were shown to be breaking chains, repairing homes, and providing food for Mewmans and Monsters a like. On the left side her hands were also shooting out light but they seemed to be attacking a gigantic five headed black cobra with red glowing eyes and red glowing runes all over its body. The cobra seemed to be rearing back in what was both reeling from Moon's attack and an attempt to strike at Moon.

" _For centuries the cobra's peace had Mewni trapped as a puppet haunted, but Moonlight of the Monster lover shattered them at the hands of the rebel Undaunted_. Wow, mom and dad look cool here. I hope I get a cool tapestry." Out of the corner of her eye Star saw one of the pedestals glow when she wasn't near it. "Strange." She walked over and began reading it.

* * *

"First off let's get the problem itself clearly stated. Something in the universe is sapping and damaging the powers of magic and is likely the cause of the fritz." Moon's words were interrupted by Rhombulus.

"Well duh, that's what I've been saying." At this Heckapoo yelled at him.

"Hey, the timeout corner has no voice!" Rhombulus mumbled something about it being unfair that Glossarick wasn't here as well.

The fight between Rhombulus and Glossarick had damaged the council room slightly and the remaining members had gathered around the somewhat damaged table. Moon continued to talk ignoring the conversation between Heckapoo and Rhombulus.

"Omnitraxus has been looking for the leaks cause but has not been having much success from when I last checked. Did you find anything new?" Omnitraxus tried talking but his voice came out garbled. "Omni… can you hear us? Omni?" Glossarick rolled his eyes speaking up.

"Let me guess, the fritz."

"Correct." Glossarick looked up at Toffee as he stepped into the room now. "Now let me help out Omnitraxus as I get the feeling it's the input." As he stepped up Rhombulus spoke.

"Exactly, that's usually the problem."

"What did I just say?!" Heckapoo called back to him with Rhombulus turning back into his corner grumbling to himself. As Toffee and Lekmet began dealing with the crystal ball Moon spoke up to Glossarick.

"Regardless, whatever is causing this is powerful so we need everyone on high alert. This concerns Star as much as anyone and because of this we need her training accelerated." Glossarick stared blankly at Moon for a second before replying.

"Yeah… not gonna happen." Moon's face got a miffed expression on it as she replied.

"From what I've heard from Star you barely even teach her. Why are you holding back all of sudden after being so straightforward and engaging with me?" Glossarick heaved a heavy sigh and began ranting.

"Welp it's finally come to this has it? Every single time a new princess is trained the queen eventually pulls me aside and reminds me how they were trained in the past. It's all 'mememememe' wanting to get back in the spotlight in some way shape or form. Despite her madness Eclipsa was the ONLY one who never did this out of all the queens and because of your insistence you left the magic book of spells unprotected and Star trapped inside of her wand." Glossarick floated over to the crystal ball and hit it with a fist making it show both Star being thrown about by the hurricane in the land of past queens and Marco dealing with a wand out of control. Everyone gasped at this with Glossarick glaring at them all. "They have resolved these issues for the most part at this point but you caused this by dragging me into this nightmare of red tape and caused this crisis to occur because you don't trust me to do my job and what's more you don't trust Star!" Everyone looked at each other in shock with Moon looking down in shame. Glossarick got a sympathetic look on his face as he addressed Moon. "My queen… my dearest queen who has accomplished so much for her short time the reason why your training was different was because you were different from Star, and if Willow had come she would back me up right now." Moon's ashamed look doubled as Glossarick continued. "You have to trust Star to make decisions that are best for her; I know she has been hurt grievously in the past with the mental scars running deep but that's why I'm doing this. You need to trust me to guide Star into becoming the queen she needs to be just like I guided you to being the queen you are now." Glossarick smiled as everyone got a small smile on their faces… except for Moon who inhaled and exhaled slowly before looking at Toffee who nodded to her before she spoke.

"Star's PTSD corrupts her magic." Everyone immediately turned towards Moon with shocked looks on their faces. "Every time she has an event her… magic becomes corrupted until she calms down. And what's more I believe her access to magic has made these attacks worse when they do occur. They're rare and when she calms down the corruption stops but they do still occur." At this Rhombulus spoke up.

"Wait, Star can corrupt magic and you never told us!" Instead of berating him Heckapoo supported him.

"With all due respect my queen and friend you have withheld knowledge that could put us all in danger!"

"BAAAAAAAA!" Lekmet spoke up as well with Moon facing them all down with an unflinching gaze of Iron.

"And what would you have suggested we do?! Do you know the protocol for what we do with those who corrupt magic!?" Everyone went to reply and then stopped mid-inhale. "That's right we crystalize them!" A nimbus of power came over Moon's form and lighting her cheek marks a brilliant white. "And if you think I am going to let you crystalize my one and only daughter…" She then took her Butterfly form with armor on leaping into the air summoning power to her hands. "… you are underestimating a mother's love for her only child!" Lightning crackled around Moon as everyone stepped back except for Toffee who walked on over taking one of Moon's hands with the lightning scorching his hand as he spoke.

"Dear, perhaps we could try to be civil before punches are thrown?" Moon looked down at Toffee staring at him for a solid minute before lighting down and reverting back to normal. "Regardless I share my wife's position." He turned back to the council with his hand healing. "Even discounting my personal love for our daughter do you know the lash back this could cause in Mewni if even rumors of this gets out? Everyone would assume that all half-breeds will do this to society even though it is PTSD that is causing this. This would be a nightmare and could cause civil unrest, lend support to the Forest Barbarians, even spring forth rebellions along our borders." Everyone looked back and forth at each other until Glossarick spoke up.

"Yeah I kind of guessed that was the case." Everyone looked at Glossarick with double the shock except for Toffee who merely raised his eyebrow. "I'm not stupid Moon, I can sense when these things happen despite not being all knowing despite what most people say."

"HA, I knew it!" Heckapoo glared at Rhombulus pointing to the door.

"That's it, out!" Rhombulus grumbled as he left the room with Moon speaking up.

"Glossarick… I just…" Glossarick smiled and spoke.

"I get it Moon. That is why the training is the way it is, I'm trying to build up Star's confidence so she isn't afraid of magic first and foremost. That way when she begins advanced training she can be shown how to not only overcome the corruption but potentially use it in a controlled manner." Everyone looked at him oddly again. "Remember people; trust me to do my job." Toffee nodded and squeezed Moon's hand giving her a small smile. Moon sighed and smiled back at him moving her hand around his waist and leaned against him before speaking to Glossarick.

"Very well Glossarick, we will trust you with this."

* * *

"So… what now?" Marco asked Nacho and the crocodile head who looked at each other somewhat confused. After a few seconds of silence the head turned towards Marco and spoke.

"Well what was ya doin before I gotz here?" Marco rubbed the back of his head while speaking.

"Well I was looking through the book of spells in an attempt to fix the wand soooo…" He glanced at the book with the two figures shrugging as best they could. "… guess I might as well continue to read it?" Marco moved over to the book with Nacho carrying the head over. "Say what is your name anyways?" The head considered for a moment before speaking.

"Well Jushtin didn have time to gib me a name so I guess Imma name myself. Lezz shee…" He thought for a second deep in thought. "Agateor, since I am Alligator Agate; or am I crocodile Agate… no matter thaz not important, I hab a name now." Marco smiled and shrugged as he turned back to the book getting…

"Pictures, nothing but hand drawn pictures." Indeed Estrella the Drafted did indeed have a chapter filled with nothing but pictures.

No spells, no history, no private entries, just nothing but hand drawn pictures from start to finish. Many of them weren't even that good and they were mostly landscape pictures, not Marco's favorite type of picture. Of course he did get a picture of Estrella's husband Azul Saint who apparently was a songstrel. 'Guess artistry defined that generation.' Marco thought to himself as he found a picture of a young Willow in the book. Apparently Willow was almost called Comet but Estrella changed her mind at the last second.

The next chapter was Willow's and Marco was stopped by the fact that Willow had two titles; The Chef and The Puppet. Marco blinked in concern and continued reading at first getting a good feeling about Willow. She appeared to be an artist like her parents and lived life to the fullest going about to different dimensions to experience all life had to offer. Then she came back to Mewni with a vow to make peace between Monsters and Mewmans with the phrase 'ruling from the kitchen'. Marco's smile fell however when he reached an entry stating that she would be going to St. Olga's for some final training to become a proper queen, though it was probably obsolete. Throughout the first part many images and recipes were present giving off a warm feel with a flowery hand writing to accompany it; that ended after this entry. Afterwards there was nothing but queenly protocol and spells listed down in sharp and precise cursive as well as two notes, one at the start of this section and one at the end of the section. The first one stated she was down with being a flower child and was doing what a proper princess and queen needed to do to maintain her kingdom. The second one was a direct note to her daughter to pick herself up and hopefully become the queen this nation needed her to be. Marco actually felt somewhat pained reading that section as he knew Willow, he had cooked with her, and yet she had turned into this after going to St. Olga's. Star even left a note expressing her shock over it and confirming St. Olga's was in fact that bad as she had broken into it once. Marco chuckled over that and moved onto the next chapter, Moon's chapter.

At this Marco was treated to a chapter that seemed to function as much as a story book as a spell book. There were not that many original spells but there were spells that had previously been written that Moon had reworked to work better although those were few as well. This chapter functioned almost like a diary for Moon explaining what was going on in her life and giving her view of it. Marco had heard about The War of Moonlight Shadow from Star several times but this gave an in depth look into it showing the viewpoint of a noble hearted rebel child aging into a mature warrior queen. More than the other queens her husband and lover, Toffee, played a major role in helping Moon be shaped into who she was; hell in some chapters the kings weren't even mentioned. In fact the more he read about Moon and Toffee's relationship the more he realized how it eerily mirrored his and Star's relationship with friends becoming lovers. 'Maybe that's why Toffee was ok with us becoming a couple.' Marco thought chuckling to himself as finished up the biography of one of the coolest people he had ever read about. Oddly there were no notes from Star in this chapter except for one at the very end saying how much she loved her mother and how great a person she was making Marco chuckle as he started Star's chapter.

There was surprisingly little in Star's chapter; naturally it wasn't finished yet and Star had only had it for half a year or so but still. The main bulk chapter included when Star was first sent to earth and listing off things that she loved about earth like a fangirl would. There was a section where spells would have been written but there were only three listed: Narwhal Blast (combat spell), Cloudy (Transportation spell), and Spider in a Top Hat (Entertainment and Combat Spell). Star also left a note saying she would add to this section at a later date, as soon as she worked the countless spells she did have into what could be considered a final draft. Marco chuckled at that and stopped chuckling when he saw a picture of when he was six wearing a grey sweater vest and red bowtie with the note ' _My host family said I could help myself to anything I needed… I needed this for reasons. He's so cute isn't he!_ ' Marco stared at the picture with Agateor and Nacho chuckling at Marco's expense. Groaning he flipped the picture… and came across the 'My Thoughts on Marco' chapter from Star's Diary.

"Ummmm." Marco was caught at a crossroads now, not sure of what to do.

"Well, keep on reading." Marco looked or at Agateor and thought a second more.

"Well… if it gets TOO personal I'll back out." He felt guilty but he really wanted to know what Star was hiding from him back when he was trapped in a closet reading over Star's notes.

 _'I'm keeping this in my Book of Spells now as Marco hates Glossarick and would never open it lest he come out. I am not having Marco read me secret stuff again, I like him but this is too personal.'_

 _'I… connect with Marco in a way I just don't with most people. Our first meeting was rather rough but he's a rather nice person; he even let me hide in his hoodie because it was cold out after our rough patch. I don't get earth that well at time, I've been to other dimensions but still, but Marco helps me out in understanding things. Sometimes I just pretend to be clueless so he can help me out all the more as he has a certain way of doing things which I think helps us both out. I get the feeling he just likes to take care of me and to just be with me because he just likes to be with me so I let it just all hang out and relax. He doesn't care I'm half-Monster, he doesn't care when I don't get things, he doesn't care when I mess up so long as I learn from it; he just wants to be there for me_ _J.'_

 _'He helped me get through Mewberty, man that was scary. Fortunately all went well and he emerged only lightly hurt. Sorry by the way_ _L.'_

 _'Well the Blood Moon Ball was a disaster, as I predicted it would be, but now I feel like me and Marco are closer than ever. Good things do come through disasters at times I guess.'_

 _'Marco went head to head against two shadows after being my therapist to help resolve a series of nightmares that had been plaguing me. Is there anything this boy can't do! Playing up the white knight syndrome a bit here man; but still I'm happy he was here for me.'_

 _'Marco was right about St. Olga's… not even gonna speak about what went on in there.'_

 _'And he just did something unlikable. Ditching me to be used as an unwitting distraction so he and his friends could goof off… RUDE! I would have totally helped him out if he had asked! But at the same time I can't help but feel sorry for him. He's trying to keep up a failing relationship with Jackie and he panicked. And now I'm… conflicted as to whether or not I want them to work with each other in the end. Because… I think… I have a crush on Marco; despite what he did.'_

 _'He and Jackie broke up… she claimed it was to give me a chance as we were closer than they were… most conflicted I have ever felt in my life. Of course even now would he view me the same way? I mean we're best friends… and what's more I'm a lizard; an ugly scaly lizard._ _L'_

 _'Jackie and Tom got together at Marco's behest; never felt more proud of Marco in my life. He seems to finally be at peace over these problems from the past and is holding himself differently. Oh, he's just so handsome and cute, I wanna snuggle him to sleep now!'_

 _'He found out… he found out I had a crush on him thanks to the truth box. He… had no answer for me. I was expecting him to just reject me but he didn't. Damnit Marco don't give me hope, it hurts more when I have hope! It hurts waiting for the rejection, it hurts hoping he will reciprocate my feelings, it hurts watching him tear himself apart over I because he's afraid of hurting me. Don't hesitate just tell me already you don't feel the same way; rip it off like an old Band-Aid you jerk!'_

 _'HE LOVES ME BACK! I never thought it would happen but he wants to be my boyfriend as well as bestie. He outright claimed he wasn't good enough for me during his confession which is ridiculous but I don't care, HE LOVES ME BACK! He even claims I look cute to him, especially my eyes that keep on changing color. I never thought anyone would view me like that, that I would have to marry some foppish noble who was only doing it for the political power but I have Marco. I know I'm only 14 and there is a lot to come next but I feel like I've… found my soulmate. He lights me up inside like the fourth of July, whenever he's around I always seem to smile, when people ask me how well he's the reason why I'm dancing in the mirror and singing in the shower.'_

A few tears fell onto the latest entry as Marco cried with a smile on his face making Nacho and Agateor look at him worried. Marco leaned down to the book kissing the final entry and whispered "I love you too Star." He flipped the page blinking at what appeared to be a skull with blue chains sprouting out of it enclosing a section of the book. On the front was a note by Star. 'I could not move Eclipsa's section as it appears to be stuck here. If you can get Glossarick to open it please move it to right after Solaria's section.' Marco set the book down, he could tell this was the final chapter and stretched knowing he would just have to wait for Star to get back now. As he did so Nacho moved up to the skull and batted it with the lock chuckling a little before unlocking with the chains falling away. Nacho screeched in fear and ran into Marco's shirt with the two tumbling around little bit before Marco got everything straight with a little cursing.

"Nacho what is wrong with you!?" As he spoke the page with the skull on it flipped over revealing the next chapter. "Ummmm…" He looked at Agateor who shrugged in his own way. "Nacho, is it safe?" Nacho poked his head out of the neck hole next to Marco and sniffed the air. Marco moved in closer to the book, careful not to touch it, and let Nacho sniff more deeply. "Is it… safe?" Nacho nodded to Marco relaxing and holding onto him. "Alright final chapter." He read the opening stanza. " _Eclipsa queen of Mewni to a Mewman king was wed…"_

* * *

"… _but took a Monster for her love and away from Mewni fled_. Hey that's just like my mom." Star spoke to herself as she looked at Eclipsa's tapestry.

She had met Eclipsa before but then she was dressed as a type of teenager, now she was dressed in a more formal outfit and sitting on some sort of massive tree branch. She also was holding an old style parasol that was currently folded up and resting on her lap and had on this self-satisfied smirk that seemed very different from the laid back woman that Star had met after the school dance. As Star looked closer her eyes went wide as she realized that it wasn't a tree branch Eclipsa was sitting on but the massive arm of a large red furred ape like Monster with four yellow eyes that seemed to be gleaming maliciousness. Both figures also seemed to be in some sort of shadow covered rose garden that gave the impression you did not want to be there with them. Star stared at them in confusion over the intensely evil atmosphere this tapestry provided until she remembered, Mewmans made this centuries ago; if some still hate Moon and Toffee now than way back then it would have likely been worse. She chuckled as she spoke to herself.

"Well that's interesting to meet you in person and see your picture. Now then where was…" Another purple glow caught Star's attention, this time from the base of Eclipsa's pedestal on the opposite side. "… hello, hidden message?" Star moved around and crouched down to get a better view. "What could be hiding here hmmmm? _The tale of the manipulated love between Eclipsa and Alucard will be known by no bard; nor the tragedy of the disappearance of their children Meteora and the second Alucard._ " Star's voice fell as the words she was saying made an impact on her.

* * *

" **The name by the way is Alucard, second child of Mewman and Monster**." He reached onto his sword and pulled out the red gem from the hilt throwing the blade aside and bowing to Star dramatically. " **Until we meet again**."

* * *

"…" Star looked up at Eclipsa's portrait. "Alucard is the name of Eclipsa's Monster love… and son? Then… which one was the one who possessed Lord Mildrew?" Her thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like on old style sowing machine prompting Star to look. As she glanced over she saw the bottom left corner of a tapestry that had an outline of Narwhals around it with the only clear parts of the portrait being Glossarick and one of Star's shoes. As Star approached the tapestry the image of Glossarick pulled himself out of the tapestry and began gasping for breath. "Glossarick, you're ok!" Star bounded over as Glossarick replied.

"This was a lot harder than it should have been."

"*Pffft* You can say that again." Glossarick chuckled before going serious.

"Ok, did you find the thing that doesn't belong yet?"

"Glossarick, I just got here; I was sent through the Ghost Zone and had to deal with some angry grandmothers to get back in here." Glossarick blinked in shock for a second before sighing.

"Well, did you meet yourself?" Star looked at him in confusion prompting him to sigh in relief. "Ok we still have time, let's look for…" He was interrupted by a thud from Moon's tapestry. They looked over to see one of the red eyes of the cobra had fallen out leaving a red gem about the size of a human eyeball.

"The thing that doesn't belong." Star spoke aloud and slowly walked over scooping it up. "The thing that doesn't belong. Glossarick… I think we got it." Glossarick heaved a sigh of relief.

"Well looks like we actually succeeded. Ok time to go home, just step into my eyeball." Glossarick pulled his eyelids back prompting Star to take a step back.

"Ok gross."

"You roll around in mud and eat the raw entrails of creatures that have been dead for seconds yet you think this is gross?"

* * *

Marco finished up Eclipsa's chapter and relocated it to after Solaria's chapter with a somber feeling taking a hold of him. Eclipsa had come across as childish and delved into dark magic way to easily, kind of eerily reminding him of Janna, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She had been forced to take a horrid man as a husband and take a crown she not only was not ready for but that she knew she was ill suited to wear. She desperately had wanted to pass it on to someone else in the family who would have been more capable but it was her responsibility to just take it. It was made even worse by the fact that she was a Monster sympathizer and had to oversee their kind's destruction whether she wanted to or not. And what's more, she had to actually flee the kingdom of Mewni when her 'husband', King Shastican (even the name sounded bad), figured out how to break into her book of spells and found her guide to dating Monsters. 'I will admit it was interesting to get a Cosmopolitan view of what women view in a Monster. And yet again Septarians place near the top, second place to be exact. Why do Magical Girls look so highly upon humanoid lizards?' Marco thought to himself ruefully as Nacho pushed up against him.

"It's ok Nacho, Eclipsa is fine now." As he finished speaking a gigantic eyeball appeared in the middle of the room and bounced for a second before spitting Star out of its pupil covered in black goop. "Wha…" Nacho screeched and ran into his shirt again with Marco struggling. "Oh come on show some backbone you mangy furball!" As Marco cat wrestled the eye turned into Glossarick with a deflated eye hanging out of his right socket who spoke up gasping.

"Oh GODS that was painful." He floated up turning to Star. "So did it come with us?" Star sat up holding the gem in her hand.

"Yep, we got the thing that doesn't belong. Now to get rid of it." Star moved over to her closet and threw the gem into it.

"Ummmm…" Star cut Glossarick off.

"Hey it's secured for now right, I'll tell mom and dad later. Oh and…" She pointed to her eye with Glossarick understanding.

"Oh right." He pushed his eye back into position with Star shuddering as she picked up her wand seeing Marco finish dealing with Nacho.

"Marco, when did you get in here?" Marco turned towards Star placing Nacho down.

"Star, where were you? I came in looking for my hoodie but I found you weren't here." Star smiled as she replied.

"Oh there was something wrong with my wand but it's fixed now… I think." Star went over to her wand and picked it up shooting a Narwhal out of it. "Yep it works again." Star then noticed the book had been moved and the wand was not where she had last left it. "Wait, what were you doing in here while I was in the wand?" At this Agateor spoke up.

"Oh he waz readin ya book and fixin ya wand, somethin waz wrong wit it." Star jumped at the words and saw the alligator, or was it crocodile, head sitting on the bed with Marco speaking up.

"Yeah you know that note telling me I wasn't supposed to touch the wand?" Star looked at Marco in shock as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well I went to read the note and Nacho accidentally pushed me onto the wand, making it transform." At this Glossarick spoke up.

"Wait, so the troubles Star had to go through were your fault?" Star's eyes narrowed as Marco began to speak.

"I fixed the damage I did by turning the wand back to normal, I even made a spell specifically to do that." Star and Glossarick raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "No really, this guy helped me out. His name is Agateor." He pointed towards the head with it speaking.

"Yesh, dat boi did a good job. Oh hey Glossarick." Glossarick chuckled as he responded.

"Hey Jushtin's wand." Star inhaled and exhaled before turning towards Marco.

"Ok, so you messed with my wand and read my family's spellbook; something that only princesses and queens of Mewni are allowed to lay eyes upon?" Marco nodded nervously. "Even after I told you back at St. Olga's to not touch my wand unless if you had no other options?" Marco nodded even more nervously. "Marco, you should have just left them alone in the first place!" Marco looked down in shame as Star clasped him in a hug. "But thank you for fixing things." Marco smiled in relief returning the hug. "So what did you read in that book?"

"Everything, including your chapter." Star tensed up at his words holding onto him tightly. "And don't worry… I think the same way about you. I'm not a little kid, there's no such thing as 'Love at first sight' and we're both 14 with a lot to come next, but I feel like I have found my soulmate by being with you. I just connect with you in a way I do so with no one else, so no need to be nervous around me Star because I love you too." Marco pulled back smiling sweetly at Star with her replying.

"Oh Marco..." They went to kiss each other but Glossarick stepped between them.

"Wait, you read the whole book." Marco nodded. "Eclipsa's chapter included?" Marco nodded a bit confused. "And you weren't corrupted?" Marco shook his head in even more confusion. "This… is going to require some research on my part; it was locked up for a reason. Say how did you get it open in the first place." Marco spoke up pointing to Nacho.

"He did it somehow, and he assured me it was safe. I also moved it behind Solaria's chapter at Star's request." Nacho nodded giving out a small mew with Glossarick rubbing his chin.

"Interesting… that's very interesting."

* * *

A large hulking figure with twisted and bare branches coming from his head like hair sat in a large easy chair reading a book that was way too small to fit in its hands easily. The figure was currently in the ruins of some castle in the Mewman badlands sitting in the one room that still functioned which at one point had been a ballroom but was now converted into a library and bedchamber that was comfortably furnished. In the background high-class music was playing that gave a comfortable atmosphere to the room with everything lite up by a large fireplace. As he read a sucking sound came from one end of the room prompting him to look up and see a greenish portal open up spitting out a figure unceremoniously onto the floor. He chuckled and turned back to the book speaking up in a deep throaty voice sounding vaguely frog-like.

"So, how'd it go Junior and how's your dad?" The figure got up dusting itself off as it walked across the room speaking up in a high class British accent.

"First, don't call me that; Second father is alright, he's finally no longer in denial of what he did to mother and feels sorry for it; and Three…" the figure hesitated in speaking as he reached a black sword with a platinum handle that looked like a dragon's head on display in the room. "… the original Star got back, duplicates didn't even spring up as she wasn't in her own memory for long thanks to an accident on part with the karate boy." The large figure chuckled again and replied.

"Well that was a calculated risk, we'll just have to find another way to get your father out of the realm of magic. In fact him remaining in their may actually prove to our advantage won't it, Alucard the II." The figure picked up the sword from the display case and swung it around. A reddish light engulfed the sword morphing it into a black cane with a platinum dragon's head handle.

"Indeed Mulgarath, it's time for stage three." Alucard the II faced Mulgarath stepping into the light of fire fully illuminating him.

He was wearing a full dark red suit and vestcoat, closer to the color of dried blood then anything else, with a bowtie of the same color. He had a top hat over his curly green streaked silvery hair that was kept short over a pale face with high cheek bones that would make elves jealous. On his face was a handlebar mustache, two cheeks marks that were shaped like eastern Imperial dragons, a suave smile with sharp teeth, and three eyes; one being on the left and a pale red color, almost pink, and two on the right glowing a faint yellow color.

 **Hello... new challenger approaches. And with this tense though on your minds, time to leave you hanging as I get slice of life stuff out. Next up its 'The Amethyst Matrix'.**


	86. The Amethyst Matrix Pt 1

**A lone person walks into a bedroom and opens up their laptop logging in and opening up . Sighing in relief they sign into an account and after hitting a few buttons disappears in a flash of light.**

 **Janna, Omnitraxus Prime, and The Spongebob Narrator are all frozen in some sort of landscape covered in ice with a hulking figure with the word 'reality' chiseled into it's back seems to be relaxing.**

 **Reality: Hmmm, only a matter of time before people lose faith in this story, not even an author's apology for why it was so late. My dear Hippie you have...**

 **Two Steps From Hell - Flameheart** **watch?v=BQMpRWuT6hk**

 **Hippie: Returned? *A flash of light emerges from behind Reality make it sit up in shock* Ripped from my home of 19 years, forced to go on vacation for nearly 10 days, leaping back and forth between job interviews, *Reality slowly turns it head in shock looking behind it* dealing with an electric company that can't communicate with itself, falling behind on EMT class and having to push 120% just to break even, working with the fire department in strings of calls giving me writers block, working over time because my workplace is short staffed, being forced to help with my parents setting up their house so they could sell it so they could move to my dad's new workplace, and having issues setting up my internet when I do have free time preventing me from signing on here *The Hippie steps through a screen of sleet to reveal he is now wearing a trench coat and holding a staff with runes of power chiseled into it glowing an eerie purplish-green light*; and you thought that was enough to stop me?**

 **Reality: Impossible!**

 **Hippie: Not probable. I underestimated you** **but it seems you underestimated me even more. *Begins glowing with power as he runs at Reality* Time to take you down bitch! *As he leaps at a now shocked Reality he freezes in mid air turnign towards the audience* Sorry for the long delays folks, enjoy the episode because I'm back baby!**

Star let the relaxing music flow around her as she stretched her underwear clad body basking in the heat lamps above her. She didn't really need to do Zen time now but she found this was the best way for her to read pretty much anything that wasn't for official learning purposes. And besides, she needed a break from her computer games and was somewhat hoping Marco would come in to give her snuggles. She was surprised he was so eager to snuggle as she was but it was a welcome one; similar to him loving to brush her hair. She snuggled down into her nest of pillows and picked up a new comic book, the title read 'Princless', and reached over snagging a BBQ chicken wing. As she savored the taste of the wing the only thing she wished she could do was shed the underwear she was wearing currently to get fully comfortable but ignored that urge. Her parents had informed her of when it was appropriate to shed her clothes outside of bathing and being a guest in another dimension MOST definitely counted as not appropriate. Besides the thought of Marco walking in on her like this and seeing her in that state made her blush. She shook the idea thought out of her head as she continued reading, ignoring the fast paced pounding sounds that approached her door. She did notice when the sound of splintering wood sounded off with Marco shouting out.

"STAR! You have to hear this!" Star bounced up in shock sending the comic book and the chicken wings flying with BBQ sauce getting all over the comic book and pillows staining them. Her jumping up also must have shifted some of the heat lamps as two fell to the side with the bulb in one smashing as the lamp fell. As Star stared in shock at the ruined comic book, pillows, wings, and heat bulb Marco continued like a hyperactive Chihuahua. "I just got word from Alfonzo who got word from Dennis about this new thing we need to get involved with as it is just so… Star?" At this point Marco noticed the mess that had just emerged with Star turning towards him with an annoyed tick in her eye as she spoke eerily calmly.

"Marco, I'm having zen time right now, I even put a sign up on the door this time to let you know. How could you not…" It was at this point Star also noticed that in his excitement Marco had kicked down her door making her fume at him. "YOU KICKED DOWN MY DOOR!? What the bloody hell is so important that you had to kick down my bedroom door!" Marco was a deer caught in the headlights and looked side to side shivering slightly before handing Star a little note he had.

"A-Alfonzo got word from Dennis a-about a new thing a-at…" Star snatched the note from him and began reading it with her relaxing as she read the note.

"A new revolutionary shooter game at the Amethyst Arcade called 'C.O.D.E.'. Interactive game platform, completely immerses your mind, enter a different form of reality entirely?" Star blinked in shock her excitement growing. "Oh my Gods this is the special game they have been hinting at for years! And… did Dennis get all day passes for this!" Star pumped a fist in victory. "Yes, count me in on this day of days." She turned to Marco her annoyance long gone. "So who else is coming?" Marco blinked in shock that Star's anger had dissipated so quickly but replied eagerly enough.

"Dennis asked everyone in our circle but only Alfonzo and Chloe were free and willing to participate so it's just 5 of us." Star blew some hair out of her face with a smirk on her face as she replied.

"Well their loss, you get ready while I get changed for this day. This is gonna be awesome." Star turned to get clothes on while Marco looked at the door he had just kicked in.

Due to it being solid wood he had actually kicked it off the fame detaching the door from the hinges so it shouldn't be too difficult to fix even without magic. His eye did catch a note on the door stating 'Am having zen time; do not disturb unless if it involves food, is life or death, or you are Marco coming in for snuggles.' Marco blushed at the last one as, while he did like snuggling with Star and did it nightly in pj's, the thought of doing it while she was in her underwear was… 'Damn, modesty on Mewni must have very different standards then here on earth.' Marco thought to himself while leaving the room.

* * *

Marco, Star, Dennis, Chloe, and Alfonzo stepped through the portal into the Amethyst Arcade with Chloe and Alfonzo gaping in awe around them.

"Whoa… SO MANY VIDEO GAMES!" Alfonzo shouted at the top of his lungs falling to his knees in worship. "It's… *sniff* so beautiful." Dennis walked up to Alfonzo patting his shoulder and offering him a handkerchief speaking up.

"I know huh. One of the most beautiful artificially made sites in the cosmos." As they stared out over the arcade Star whispered to Chloe.

"Marco had a somewhat similar reaction." Chloe nodded replying softly as she stared out over the arcade.

"Yeah, I can see why." Star chuckled and spoke to herself.

"Nerds. Then again I guess I am one of them." She then spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear. "So where is 'C.O.D.E.' Dennis?" Dennis immediately snapped to attention and began leading everyone to the side while talking.

"C.O.D.E., it means Collective Oriented Dynamic Engrossment and is actually the name of the system they are using to host this new game. Have any of you ever heard of stories like 'The Matrix' where people enter a virtual world?" Everyone nodded at that one excitedly. "Well this is what the game system is; you are quite literally taken and put into a virtual world where you get to do whatever the game requires you to do." Everyone oohd in awe at that with Alfonzo commenting.

"I keep forgetting that these things are possible thanks to magic." Dennis and Star outright laughed at that with Dennis speaking back up.

"Oh the only magic related to this is its power source; the rest is pure scientific technology. Cutting edge to the point where multiple governments are even eyeing it to see what they could use it for." Marco scoffed and spoke up.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? No offense." He spoke the last line at Star with her shrugging and replying.

"All's good. So where is this game system being hosted at and what games do we get to play!" Star was bouncing slightly with her tail wriggling as Dennis chuckled with his reply.

"Oh the games are unkown and it should be right… here?" Dennis gestured to an empty part of the arcade where there was a large white sheet covering something massive. "Where are all the crowds, this is supposed to be a big thing?"

"Oh didn't you lot hear, postponing opening." Everyone looked to see a square was talking to them. "Something about 'technical difficulties' and what not. This is why you should not rely too much on science and go for magic to help you out." He turned away ignoring the group with everyone's excitement going down. Dennis sighed at turned back to everyone speaking up.

"Sorry guys, looks like we are not gonna experience this." Star spoke up at that.

"That's ok, I can wait a little while longer. Which gives Marco plenty of time to fix my door and my carpet after…" An electrical sounding zap rang out through the arcade from the far side of the sheet with a scream of pain accompanying it. "… bloody hell." Marco took off in towards the scream immediately speaking up.

"Saved by the shriek, come on let's see if we can help." Everyone looked at each other for a second before shrugging and taking off for the sound.

They ran around the sheet covered object, took quite a while as well, until they found an area with the sheet propped up like the entrance of a tent. Standing in the entry way were several figures with one yelling at two of them and three lugging off a fourth figure past Star and company. They saw the figure being lugged was some sort of shirtless albino gorilla like man with the figures pulling him being a sheet ghost with a five figured hand on its head, a green skinned humanoid with bloodshot eyes who was doing most of the lifting, and a man dressed up in fine clothes with a gumball shaped head who was whistling a cheery tune. As they got closer to the trio they could finally hear the yelling which was being done by some sort of humanoid gumball machine with 5 o'clock shadow.

"You idiots realize that if we can't get this fixed by tomorrow all our asses are going to be over the fire, and I'm gonna make extra sure you guys take the worst of if Skips doesn't recover from that 'prank' of yours." The two figures nodded with the gumball entity walking off muttering under his breath in anger. The gang of 5 stopped to just absorb what was going on as the two figures began talking to each other with the one that looked like a humanoid raccoon speaking first.

"Man, he's rough isn't he?" At this his companion, a humanoid blue jay, glared at him and replied.

"You know what, for once I'm taking his side in this conflict Rigby." Rigby blinked in shock as the blue jay continued. "You just had to mess around with those two wires playing mad scientist while he was working on the hard ware. I get doing it during a break and seeing if a miracle would happen, or zapping your head to make it go Albert Einstein, but you could have just cost us a whole YEAR'S worth of pay man. We could buy all sorts of stuff with that." At this the Rigby snorted and turned his back to the bird replying snarkly.

"Well Mordecai care to explain how the park burned down and you could have put it out but you were so 'engrossed' while talking on the phone to your girlfri…"

"Why you little!" Mordecai leapt at Rigby and the two began wrestling with insults being thrown around, mostly along the lines of 'Failure Einstein' and 'Phubber (Phone snubbing)'. After a little bit of this Marco got their attention with a sharp 'Ahem' that made them both freeze comedically. "Um, can we help you?" Dennis spoke up at this.

"Yes actually, what is going on with 'C.O.D.E' right now?" The two separated with Rigby speaking up.

"Oh you know just technical difficulties causing delays and what not. No need to worry." A bead of sweat broke out on both their foreheads as Chloe spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm getting the feeling this issue is bigger than you are letting on." The duo looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes with Mordecai speaking up.

"I have no idea what you are talking about miss, we are just…" Alfonzo butted into the conversation at this clearly annoyed.

"Look I am missing a 'Master Blaster' marathon for this disappointment; just tell us what's really going on!" Star, Chloe, Dennis, and Marco looked at him in shock as he wasn't one for outbursts while Mordecai tried to explain.

"Well you see something happened to the computer program that was fixed but then it somehow damaged the hardware which we are supposed to fix and now Skips is down and we have no support or any idea of what we are doing or why we are even here as we have no experience or if we can make it good and and and…" Mordecai then broke down with anxious sobs as Marco spoke up.

"Hey man you ok?" Rigby put an arm over Mordecai's shoulders to comfort him and yelled at the group of five.

"Oh now look what you've done. We've been under a lot of stress and you kids come and break him like that." He snapped his fingers to push his point. "If his sobs weren't so damn hilarious and harmonic I'd smack you all silly!" The group of five looked at each other in concern with Star speaking up first.

"Can we help them?" Marco shrugged and replied.

"I'm not sure there's much we can do. It also seems like these guys got themselves into this mess in the first place soooo…" He shrugged with Dennis speaking up.

"We are going to help them." Alfonzo blinked in confusion at this as Dennis linked his arm with Alfonzo's. "A friend in need is a friend indeed or as you would put it 'Do a Good Turn Daily'." Chloe giggled at this and spoke up to Alfonzo.

"You were in Boy Scouts?" Alfonzo shrugged as he replied.

"Still am actually. But what can we do to help these guys?" Dennis smiled at him as he replied.

"Well you showed me how you were able to build your own PC and with my experience with this technology we can at least troubleshoot right?" Alfonzo nodded with Mordecai speaking up through the sobs.

"Wait, you guys are gonna help us?" The five friends nodded, some more reluctantly, with Mordecai letting out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Gods, we know nothing about this and since Skips is down nothing was gonna get accomplished. Just go through there and don't pull an Idiot Einstein like this guy did." He pointed to Rigby who only groaned in annoyance.

The group went under the sheet to see something that would have been right at home in the movie Tron. Large computer boxes like those from the 1980's were placed around in a maze like pattern and had red and blue lights coming from them making it seem like a game of laser tag. The group let a unified 'Coooool' before letting themselves be led by Rigby and Mordecai deeper into the maze of computers. After a surprisingly short time they came to what looked to be a master control station with 6 large panels containing an uncountable amount of levers and switches were in a semicircle around a swivel chair. The chair had some sort of keyboard and computer screen on it with several more rather important looking levers and switches on its handles. One feature that was noticeable was the fact that one of the panels had its back taken off and was smoking with the smell of burnt plastic and metal in the area.

"So you see we isolated the problem here but can't figure out what's wrong with it." Rigby pointed at the smoking panel with Alfonzo and Dennis going up to its back and staring. "Yeah we tried that, didn't work." Alfonzo rubbed his chin for a second before pulling out a magnifying glass and nodded.

"Here's the problem, some guy switched up the inputs by mixing up the VGA connectors and Serial ATA's. Rookie mistake man." Alfonzo quickly and deftly switched some wires around while Dennis continued to analyze the issue.

"Someone also messed up the hard drive by cutting the coolant pipe making it leak and…"

 **SN: One nerdy fix it scene later.**

"… and that should be all that's needed to fix the hard drive." Dennis replaced the back panel while Alfonzo wiped his face leaving a smear of grease across it.

"Oh you guys are good." Star and Marco applauded silently with Mordecai and Rigby dancing in glee that everything was fixed. Chloe walked up to Alfonzo and began inching her finger up his arm.

"Well done my fix it nerd. You want a reward for a job…" Suddenly all the lights began flashing in a threatening manner. "… Ummm." At this Marco spoke up again.

"Either this is really good or really bad." Dennis leapt into the control chair and began punching in numbers and letters into the system trying to troubleshoot.

"This makes no sense; we fixed the hard drive and you guys claimed the program was fixed so what…" One of the red and blue lights suddenly turned green. "… what…" And then another and another turned green. "Oh this is bad." He quickly looked up the main system processing functions and his feathers went limp in fear. "Oh… I think I know why it was broken people. Apparently that 'error' in the program was a really bad computer virus and those mistakes we just fixed were keeping it in check." Alfonzo shuddered in fear while everyone else just blinked in confusion with Star speaking up.

"Can't you just 'scan and repair' like Norton does?" Dennis and Alfonzo stared at her deadpan with Alfonzo answering.

"It only works if you can actually identify how the virus works and quarantine it so you can rewrite the program and get rid of it. This virus is acting fast and we have no idea how to deal with it so who knows what it could do." Everyone looked at each other for a second before Marco got scared.

"Wait, isn't this a system that is supposed to upload you to a virtual reality and because of that be able to return you to the real world?" Rigby spoke up at that.

"What does that have to… ohhhhhh. This is just like that one movie I saw on the late show with creatures invading from another reality." Everybody shivered at that as the implications fell into place. A computer virus was bad enough but if it could take physical form…

"We need to go into the system and stop it." Everyone looked at Chloe like she was crazy. "Well we can't risk it getting out and it needs to put itself into that reality to get to ours so it won't damage the world too greatly. And unless if there is a way to just shut it all down…" She looked at Mordecai and Rigby who just shook their heads. "…then we don't have any better options aside from just destroying everything which may or may not work." Alfonzo and Dennis went to answer but stopped for a second before speaking at the same time.

"She's… right. If we take the fight to it we can prevent it from becoming too great of a threat. And if it's busy in the virtual reality it won't be focusing on corrupting the system giving us time to find a cure for it." The duo looked at each other in shock for a second before fist bumping. "You just read my mind man." Rigby chuckled and spoke up.

"Reminds me of a dorky version of us huh Mordecai?" Mordecai shrugged and spoke up to everyone.

"Well we can help get you guys into the world but we can't really go there as someone needs to be here to explain how a group of kids fixed things and are dealing with a computer virus." Everyone nodded with Star speaking up.

"Well looks like we are gonna experience the game today, ready Marco?" She held out her hand with Marco grabbing onto it.

"I am in." Chloe grabbed Star's other hand speaking up.

"I'm going in to help too." The duo looked at her oddly as she explained. "You are going to need all the help you can get with these four being busy and I need to contribute somehow." Star went to argue but Marco beat her to it.

"Eh this is a video game, as long as you don't slow us down I don't see any problem with that." Star turned on Marco annoyed.

"Marco, she can't fight, what if she gets hurt?" Marco shrugged and replied.

"It's a video game, we can't actually die in there for good… right?" He turned towards the other with Dennis speaking.

"Well you can't die for good but if you are eliminated you will be out for 10 minutes at least and here seconds my start counting at any moment. So if you guys could hurry it up…" He motioned at them with everyone nodding.

* * *

 **Code Lyoko OST 15 Virtualization [EXTENDED] watch?v=FpQkD1Fb3Po**

Star, Marco, and Chloe were standing in front of several pod like structures that according to the two workers said were meant to transport them into the world. The pods opened allowing them to step inside with the doors closing letting out a hiss of steam and Alfonzo's voice ringing out.

"Transfer Marco. Transfer Star. Transfer Chloe." The pods began to hum as Rigby spoke up.

"Oh my Gods it's just like we're part of a big action movie now!" Mordecai nodded barely able to contain his own excitement as Dennis spoke now hitting keys on the keyboard.

"Scanner Marco. Scanner Star. Scanner Chloe." Alfonzo leapt around the control panels hitting switches and flipping levers to get the right calibration down. As they did so the three in the pods began to levitate with lights scanning every nook and cranny on them. "And… VIRTULIZATION!" Dennis hit a big button on his arm rest uploading the three kids into the virtual reality.

Light consumed their vision as Star, Marco, and Chloe were swept into the virtual reality and they felt their bodies change. One second they were firmly in reality, the next they felt like they were light moving without substance tingling all over, and then they began to be weighed down once more but differently. Their senses of smell and taste were gone and they felt their bodies were shaped differently like they were wearing some sort of full body costume. They barely had time to get used to it however before they suddenly fell about 10 feet landing awkwardly on the ground. It was also then that they noticed their sense of touch was altered as well, making pain feel more 'electrical' if that word could be used. They got up from their tumble and took a look around taking in their world seeing mist clad mountains with short stumpy trees growing out of crevices in parts. Marco blinked and inhaled deeply wishing they had programed the smell of mountain air in and looked at Star and Chloe. Chloe it seemed was wearing some sort of red and gold Cheongsam with her once again long hair done up with chopsticks. Star was now wearing some sort of sleeveless hide armor with a skull over each shoulder and over her head with her hair done back in a braid. Marco smiled at them and spoke up feeling the voice leave his vocal chords differently and sounding like a recording of himself.

"Well looks like you guys took to the game well enough." The girls both looked at each other and then looked at Marco with Chloe giggling and Star rolling her eyes before speaking.

"Seriously, taking the knight ideals into this world?" Marco blinked in confusion before Star pointed to a small 'pond' to the side.

Marco looked in seeing that he was wearing some sort of Samurai armor with twin flags sticking out of his back, one containing a cat like creature that looked like Nacho and the other holding a yin-yang symbol. Marco admired himself for a second thinking that he looked pretty cool actually and turned back to the girls shrugging and speaking.

"Eh, I think it fits me."

"No time to admire yourselves we got a virus to stamp out." The three jumped as Dennis's voice rang out from inside their heads. "Sorry, I can't talk to you the normal way as we are in different realities right now. Anyways, I transported you to a server that was most stable and had had an interesting buildup of data at one end of it that is most likely the virus trying to assume physical form. Follow the floating arrow to get to its location." At this a golden arrow appeared in mid air and began pointing to the northeast shimmering slightly in the air with Star speaking up.

"Welp, guess we are playing a video game today; just seems that something real is on the line for once. Let's go." They all turned and ran in the arrows direction with the arrow keeping pace just in front of the group.

 **end music**

 **Thank you all for sticking with me through thick and thin folks, I'm never giving up until this story is done. And that is a promise. ;)**


	87. The Amethyst Matrix Pt 2

Dennis made note of the progress of the people in the game but had most of his attention on figuring out how to deal with the virus. Marco, Star, and Chloe could hold it off for quite some time and even dematerialize if it didn't overcome the game's mechanics but it wouldn't be defeated for good unless if he found out how to destroy it in the system itself. Fortunately he was rather adept at computing systems despite the fact that Mewni didn't have any scientific technology even close to this level yet. He glanced up at Alfonzo and smiled as he kept the six large panels calibrated like clockwork to insure the best results were coming in. The two of them were really close and actually rather similar with both of them having trouble getting along with people for different reasons making them a type of social outcast. He didn't even really get along with most of his family, not that he didn't like them but he was just too different from most of them, being fascinated with otherworldly technology while most other Avarius's were still too focused on the scratch and sniff trade. He was actually considering trying to go as an exchange student to earth so he could study their rapidly growing Information Technology…

"What is going on here!?" Dennis snapped out of his musing and auto piloting to see the Gumball machine had returned and now looked red with rage. "First you hurt Skips and now you let these kids in to mess with this!? What is wrong with you two idiotic slackers!?" Rigby and Mordecai went to answer but the Gumball machine cut them off. "Well I don't care just get them out of here!" The two looked back and forth with each other unsure of what to do with Dennis speaking up.

"Um sir, we're here to help you guys actually." The Gumball machine turned towards him with a glare as the duo motioned for him to stay quite frantically. "We fixed the mechanics but it turns out you guys contracted a virus that we are in the process of now dealing with." Alfonzo spoke up at this.

"The hardware problems also seemed to have been made to contain said virus, but that is just a hypothesis." Silence hung over everyone for a minute as the Gumball machine looked like it was going to blow its top off at any minute before a deep voice rang out.

"He's right Benson." Everyone turned to see a bandaged up Skips walk into the main area. "I was getting the feeling the broken condition seemed somewhat 'intentional' when going over it and they did get it up and running. I say we go with them for now as they actually seem to know more than I do, and all things considered that's saying a lot." Benson's eye twitched for a moment before he cooled down going back to his ordinary colors and replying.

"Fine, I just need this done before the inspector arrives tomorrow." Rigby spoke up at that.

"Yeah about that… I think we may have a bigger problem than the inspector if we don't get this fixed." Skips and Benson looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You see… they think this virus may be trying to come into our world using the… is it 'virtualization'?" Alfonzo nodded at that as he worked.

"Yeah, and we have no idea what it could be capable of if it comes into our world; think old fashion sci-fi horror." Benson and Skips shivered at that in worry as Dennis spoke up.

"Say we have some friends in the virtual world to try and delay the virus for as long as possible, do you guys have any information that could help them out in there? And do you have the source codes for these systems we are working on?" Benson nodded and left to retrieve them with Rigby and Mordecai speaking up to Skips.

"Say where is everyone else?" Skips spoke pointing to the exit.

"Outside, someone needs to keep people from wandering in here after all since you two aren't." Mordecai groaned and facepalmed at the fact they abandoned their post with Rigby shrugging nonchalantly.

* * *

Chloe ran across the land leaping from mountaintop to mountaintop following the golden arrow feeling a strange glow pulse through her form as if she had been given supernatural strength. Of course she brushed it off at the fact that she was now virtualized and could likely do all sorts of things she couldn't do in real life. She glanced around taking in the landscape of mountain tops and actually felt strangely at ease up in the high mountains even if it was in a virtual world. As she leapt from one cliff across a chasm and began literally running up the side of a mountain, she had to admit that was cool feature, she glanced over at Star and Marco with the two of them conversing with each other as they ran across the land. They seemed to be talking about some kind of summer camp they were planning on going to in August to work with two groups called The Bluebell Scouts and The Akela Cubs. She smiled as they chuckled leaping down some mountain peaks like they were stairs and felt a sick feeling inside her again. She wanted to truly join Star's group of friends ever since Star invited her despite learning who she really was, but she found it hard to just fit in due to nerves. She had hurt Star maliciously and if anyone other than Alfonzo and Star found out… she shuddered a bit externally as she slid down a mountain peak's slop. This was compounded by the fact that even now Star had not truly forgiven her for what she did even though she forgave Tom for what he did. 'Well I guess I deserve this.' She thought to herself as she hadn't truly done more than feel sorry for herself and hide since her birthday party. She was shocked out of her musing when Dennis's voice rang out in their heads making her stumble and almost fall down into a trench.

"Alright people I have good news, bad news, and better news. The Good news is I finally have the source codes to work on to defeat this virus and help you guys out when it comes to game mechanics." The trio let out a soft cheer as Marco spoke up.

"What could be better news then that?" Dennis seemed to chuckle as he replied.

"That would be information involved the ability to create transportation for you guys, which I shall demonstrate now." Right next to the trio a pair of vehicles popped up being a motorized unicycle and some sort of levitating surf board. "Sorry there are only two of them, the cpus are being taken up by the virus. And that is the bad news, it's trying to pull itself into the virtual reality and knows how to create entities in this world as well. You guys are going to be in for an uphill fight." Marco shrugged at that replying.

"Well we weren't expecting this to be easy even though we were hoping for it to be so." He turned towards the others. "So you wanna ride with me on the cycle Star." Star chuckled at that as she moved towards the bike.

"A white knight and a bad biker boy, you pull of that Daoist symbol rather well." Star pointed at the symbol on one of the flags on Marco's back before addressing Chloe. "Say you ok with the… um…" Star struggled with the name for a second before Marco spoke up.

"It's called a hover board I think. And are you ok with…" Chloe did a standing leap onto the board making it swivel around a few times before getting into a surfing position on it. "… well that answers my question. Let's get going." Marco leapt onto the bike with Star leaping on behind him and wrapping her arms around him. "Hold on tight baby-girl." Star actually growled at that with her eyes going cat-pupil yellow before whispering to Marco in a 'semi-playful' manner.

"Don't call me that; you're already on thin ice for breaking down my door and splattering BBQ sauce all over my room." Chloe saw Marco quake a little as Star's grip tightened making her giggle reactively.

Marco started up the bike with it actually taking off into the air much to their surprise with it functioning like a hovercraft. 'Then why was it built like a bike… oh right videogame logic.' Chloe thought to herself as she surfed behind Marco and Star with them covering distance rather quickly. They zipped across the land following the golden arrow with it seemingly changing the direction it was pointing at times. Dennis actually commented on that saying that there was something messing with the pathfinding in the program. After what felt like a few minutes they arrived at the edge of some sort of mist shrouded mountain valley that was covered in Japanese maples and ferns with scattered ponds surrounded by cattails and filled with koi.

"Alright people, this seems to be where it is coming out." Dennis's voice rang out as the group landed their craft. "The location is called Shangri-La and I think the virus is coming here because there is a hub that acts as a stabilizing factor for this world. In fact I think it was meant to be the place where people would spawn but the work was not finished on it." The trio got off their craft as Chloe spoke up.

"Saw what should we be looking for as the hub itself or any creatures made by the virus?" Dennis replied after a longer delay than expected.

"Well you are looking for some sort of… I think you guys call it a 'Buddist' Temple in a clearing somewhere in the valley. As for the creatures…" Dennis hesitated again. "…good question. I actually have no idea what you might be encountering as there are so many damn designs that it could use against you. Good news is you all come with weapons that can help you fight off…" A blast of orange light like from a laser suddenly shot out of the surrounding mountain forest hitting Chloe square in the chest throwing her back 10 feet and landing on her back with electrical charge rippling out of the shot area.

"Chloe!" Star ran over looking over her. "Are you alright?"

Chloe looked up to see Star looking at her with concern once again feeling a little sick inside seeing at how concerned Star was for her. But she pushed those feelings aside as she pulled Star down with more lasers flying overhead some almost hitting Star. The two rolled for cover with Marco instinctively pulling out a sword from… somewhere and twirled it blocked the lasers that went in his direction. As they did so Dennis commented on this.

"Looks like the virus knows you're here and sent a raiding party to delay you. And it seems like you found your weapon already Marco." Marco chuckled at that as he used the katana too block more of the lasers with increasing ease. "And don't worry too much about Chloe, she just lost some life points from the hit and she will recover them in time. But do try to not get hit as it will result in you…" Finally Marco yelled out to Dennis in exasperation.

"We are familiar with how a video game works so could you give Star and Chloe weapons as well?" As Marco spoke figures began to emerge from the misty undergrowth taking shape.

There were four of them looking like apes from the waist up with long spider like arms from the elbow down and a long snake like tail from the waist down. Faceless heads bearing a mouth that opened up nearly splitting the head in half were the main feature about them that they learned could 'spit' the laser when one spat a laser out at Marco with him blocking it. As another one went to shoot a flash of pink light shot out striking the creature straight in the chest making it explode in a flash of orange light. All members of both sides looked over at Star who had shot something out of the palm of her hand which was still glowing a pink color. Star didn't even have time to mutter 'cool' before the other three spat lasers at her with all three getting direct hits throwing Star onto her back. Marco growled in anger and rushed the remaining three with two more lasers coming out of the woods striking Marco sending him to his knees. The other three seemed to chuckle and spat lasers at Star and Marco now ignoring Chloe to focus on greater threats.

As Chloe watched them fight from behind a rock she shivered with fear; not for herself but the fact that she couldn't help them. There they were out in the open facing down the baddies while she was stuck behind a rock… 'Wait what am I doing; I should have a weapon on me somewhere right?' Chloe searched herself down finding 2 sticks stuck in the wrap around her waist. She pulled them out revealing them to be hand held fans with intricate artwork designs of butterflies and humanoid lizard warriors all over them. Blinking in confusion at this Chloe held the two fans in one hand while the other searched over her for anything else that might be a weapon. He search was interrupted when she heard another grunt of pain from Marco prompting Chloe to look up and see the fight was not going in their favor. Marco was constantly blocking shots from the woods allowing the other three to focus down on Star timing their shots to not allow her time to fire back. 'Well, here goes nothing.' Chloe thought to herself as she tossed one of the fans at the group of creatures with it turning into a discus of yellow energy that for some reason curved into the woods. As it passed through two flashes of orange light occurred telling them the two in the woods were dead before it came back to Chloe. With the suppressing fire gone Marco charged out and swiped his sword cleaving one of the creatures making it go down in another explosion. The other two stopped firing on Star to try and shoot Marco at close range before he could strike them but forgot that Star was now no longer under suppressing fire allowing her to leap up and shoot one quickly with her pink light. Marco on the other hand reacted far more quickly than the creature would have suspected and quickly repositioned his sword to stab at its underbelly making it go down as well. Chloe and Star came out to a now panting Marco who spoke slightly winded.

"So *pant* are we done here?" Star and Chloe nodded. "Ok, then let's get moving; we have a lot of ground to search." Star spoke up in confusion at that.

"Why, don't we have an arrow we are…" Marco pointed out that the golden arrow that they were supposed to follow was now spinning in endless circles. "… oh guess we just need to search the valley then." The trio took off into the forest thinking that it couldn't be that difficult to find a temple that was meant to be a hub.

 **SN: Two hours later.**

"Dennis, do you have any idea where this temple is!?" Marco shouted this up to the sky as he sliced the head off of one of the 'Creepers', apparently the name of those spider and snake limbed creatures they had fought initially, and blocking another shot from one.

"I'm trying but this virus seems to know how to cover its tracks with amazing skill. I swear this thing is some sort of AI." Dennis's response only made Chloe grumble as she held her fans out blocking the hits from half a dozen of the Creepers from striking Star.

This was the fourth encounter they had in these forests not counting the one at the entry and Chloe was getting a little bored with it all things considered. Yes it was worrisome when Marco was destroyed and had to wait 10 minutes before he could respawn but aside from that nothing too eventful. In fact as Chloe really thought about it they had only been encountering these Creepers; which was more than enough honestly given their ability to climb trees with lightning speed but still. As she blocked the hits Star sniped out three of them in rapid succession with the other three taking to the trees to find cover. Sensing an opportunity she flung one of her fans with it striking two of them before they disappeared into the undergrowth. Marco took off into the woods at a speed so fast he blurred with an orange explosion coming not 3 seconds after he disappeared from view. As he emerged Star sighed and spoke up.

"I wish these things left tracks because if they did I could definitely follow them back to where they were coming from." They nodded with Chloe pushing forward through the ferns with the others following as she spoke up.

"Well we will have to find it eventually; this valley can't be that biiii…" Chloe paused pushing through some ferns.

In front of her was a sharp drop off that fell nearly 100 feet revealing the whole length of the remaining valley ahead of them. The mist shrouded area was surrounded on three sides by steep mountains that led out of the valley showing them that they had in fact come to the very end of the valley. At the far end built into the cliff face was some sort of temple carved from the black stones out of the mountain itself and looked to have been there for millennia. Star and Marco pushed through the ferns and stood shell-shocked at the sight with Star commenting.

"That… is… an impressive sight." As they stared across the valley a buzzing sound came from above them with Marco looking up and screaming.

"Back into the woods!" Star immediately leapt backwards in reflex but Chloe looked up and was nearly blasted by a shower of orange lasers.

Bringing up her fans in reflex she was barely able to block them in time, in fact she didn't block one which hit her shoulder giving out an electrical string she had gotten all too used too. She ducked back into the woods with Marco and Star to see a group of what looked to be giant hornets with two additional stingers on their front two forelegs zip by at lightning speeds. 'Say they look eerily similar to Beedrill from Pokémon.' Chloe thought to herself as they flew past heading in a wide circle to turn around with one making a dash for the temple. Star saw this and leapt out of the woods shooting her own lasers at it with a direct hit confirmed with the small orange explosion. She didn't even have time to pump her fist in victory however when the remaining 4 swooped down shooting lasers from where their stingers would have been. Chloe leapt out blocking them with her fans as Marco joined her in blocking them yelling out to her.

"Chloe, you focus on taking them out, I'll block their shots." Chloe nodded and swung both of her fans out with them going in wide arcs.

The bugs attempted to scatter from their formation but the fans took down one and cut the wings off of another making it fall onto the cliff a few feet from them. The two in the air attempted to shoot down the trio but Star shot back at them forcing them to dodge a lightning speeds to avoid getting hit causing their accuracy to be way off. Chloe tried throwing her fans at them again but they dodged them more easily then Star's shots. Marco on the other hand had to fight the one on the ground with it using it's forelegs like a pair of rapiers. Its tactic was to stab at Marco with one blade and use the other to block and return strikes making it a stalemate with Marco's skill compensating for having only one weapon. Chloe noticed this and decided to even the odds by throwing one of her fans at the bug which promptly blocked it with one leg. This however left it open for Marco to bat aside it's thrust and riposte stabbing it in the head getting a familiar explosion. Chloe did pay for that however as she now only had one fan and one of the bugs swooped in in a kamikaze charge attempting to skewer her with its legs. She blocked one with her fan but the other hit straight in her chest sending out an ESPECIALLY painful shock throughout her body as she was pinned to a tree. Before a few seconds had passed however the bug exploded into a shower of sparks as Star had cut through it with what looked to be Wolverine claws. She didn't even stop to help Chloe up before turning and leaping off the cliff making the noise a raptor made in Jurassic Park at the final bug. It didn't even have time to dodge before Star grabbed onto it grabbling it in midair with the bug sinking down below and moving towards the temple.

"Star!" Marco outright leapt off the cliff into the forest below to follow her to the temple as Chloe stood up thinking aloud.

"Ummmm, guess I'll follow the leader." She quickly grabbed her second fan and followed Marco towards the temple at full speed but was stopped by Dennis's voice at the base of the cliff.

"Ok guys, I think I did it. I have a program installed that will destroy the virus buuuuuuuut…" Chloe rolled her eyes thinking 'of course there's a but'. "… it needs to be in the system to be dealt with and it apparently has merged itself into the virtual world. You guys need to destroy it in order for the program to destroy it, is that clear." Chloe nodded and replied as she took off after the others.

"Crystal." Zipping through the woods she headed towards the temple coming across Marco who was helping Star up after her wild ride and was speaking in exasperation.

"…even thinking in the first place! Do you know what it could have done to you in midair?!" Star tossed her braid back and glared at Marco before retorting.

"Well who was the one that took all of the hits destroying himself when I could have taken a few of them?!" Chloe looked back and forth between the two glaring at each other until Marco began chuckling and replied.

"Well, guess that's fair." Star then chuckled as well leaning in to kiss him on the cheek lightly as she spoke.

"I love you my white knight, just don't get yourself killed for my sake." Chloe again found herself shipping the two so hard at that moment speaking up inadvertently.

"You two are so cute." They looked at her chuckling with raised eyebrows making her stammer. "Uh uh, I mean, um, you know we have to destroy the…" Marco cut her off.

"Virus yes. I have a bad feeling this is going to be a boss fight we are not prepared for." Everyone sighed at that with Marco looking towards the temple. "Let's take it slow and heal up from the damages we still have. I have the feeling it's not going to fight us one on one." Star and Chloe nodded with the group walking through the forest lightly and cautiously.

After a little while their hit points had healed up and they were standing not far from the temple's entrance with it looking rather impressive, although it did look more Hindi then Buddhist. Not surprisingly there were 2 creatures flanking the entrance but they were not like the bugs or creepers, these creatures looked like they meant business. Eight spider like legs coming out of a tiger's body with a cobra's head extending from the body a full eight feet topped off with a scorpion's tail extending from the rear made them look like something out of a nightmare. The trio looked at each other for a second before Marco whispered a plan into their ears quickly. They nodded and split up with Star flanking left and Chloe flanking right. They got into position quickly with Marco walking out into the open catching the creatures' attentions speaking up.

"Afternoon gents, lovely day for a fight to the death eh?" 'Oh my god he is such a dork, no wonder Star loves him.' Chloe snickered to herself as the two creatures glanced at each other for a second before leaning back on four legs.

They began shooting lasers from the four upright legs at Marco who ducked and dodged before trying to block all the shots with mixed success. Not allowing them a moment more to damage him Chloe leapt up and flung both her fans at the right one with both cutting off its front legs. Star leapt up and shot the left one point blank hitting its head multiple times making the head explode. However when Chloe caught her fans she saw they did not seem perturbed in the slightest with the left one now shooting in Star's general direction and the right one moving for Chloe full speed hissing menacingly. Chloe did a twirl and flip like she used to in cheerleading to dodge its tail and head before throwing her fans on her final flip at the creatures head cutting it off in a clean slice. The head exploded but the scorpion's tail shot a mist of green gas at where Chloe was going to land making her sting all over. She rolled out of the mist using her fans now to block the tail's strikes which were coming in a rapid succession. She was at a stalemate unbelievably with the mostly dead creature that pushed her relentlessly. Chloe was wondering how much longer she could keep this up before Marco shot in slicing off its tail in a quick cut and turning around stabbing the body making it explode in the familiar fashion. They stood their panting with Star coming up and speaking.

"You have to destroy all the parts of it in order to kill it, clever virus." They all nodded with Chloe commenting.

"Although it would make a nice mini-boss if this was a game." They nodded in consent but stopped as a gong sounded out accompanying Dennis's voice.

"Um guys, you don't have much time; I think it's figured out how to virtualize itself and is attempting its first test run." The trio nodded and dove into the temple running at full speed hoping to stop it in time.

The inside of the temple itself wasn't actually that big and was a pretty simple lay out so they traversed the whole thing in less than 5 minutes. They emerged into what seemed to be the main ceremonial chamber of sorts with a forest of pillars and a high ceiling overhead disappearing into shadows. To add to the creepy factor statues along the walls staring out with cold stone eyes were all along the walls in small alcoves. But the creepiest thing of all was what Chloe assumed to be the virus itself hunched over in the center of the room seemingly in some sort of meditative state with its back to them. It was curled up on itself so she was fairly certain it was long and sinuous with scales that appeared to be the color of the surrounding rocks with a type of smoke coming off of it. As the group stopped in the entrance just getting a grasp of it the virus extended itself and turned towards them revealing that of all things for some reason it looked like an Eastern Imperial Dragon complete with the long whiskers that waved around its face. What was creepiest about it however is that it didn't really have eyes, instead having blank black sockets with flashes of light coming from it that Chloe was fairly sure was binary for some reason. As it extended upwards it began speaking in a monotone electrical voice like that which would come from a computer.

"Foreign bodies 3, Threat minimal, Mathematical capabilities negligible, Intelligence minimal…"

"HEY!" All three of them shouted out interrupting it briefly.

"… Deletion… IMMEDIATE!" It reared back and shot some sort of toxic mist out of its mouth with Marco yelling out.

"Scatter!" The three scattered with Chloe flipping out of the mist and throwing her fans at it.

The fans scored hits but they only left small glowing marks on it that the virus didn't seem to notice. The Virus swiped its tail in a wide arc sweeping most of the open floor beneath it with Chloe dodging due to her flipping. She also saw with relief that Star had leapt onto one of the pillars and was climbing up the side getting into a good firing position. 'Triangular' Chloe blinked in shock as Marco ran up to the virus and surrounded it with a triangular golden light with him at each corner of the triangular prison. The virus didn't even hesitate before slamming its tail to the ground sending out a powerful shockwave knocking all three Marco's down. Chloe shook off the fact that there were now three Marcos there and tried throwing her fans at its tail in an attempt to cut it off. She was fairly certain the virus would have smirked if it could express emotion as it playfully smacked them aside with the tail she had tried to cut off. Star shot at it from a distance but the virus tanked those hits and charged at the pillar she was on smashing into it head first causing the whole thing to come down. Star, with a feat of agility and strength that left Chloe gaping, leapt onto another one with ease. The Virus growled at Star as it went for that pillar with Chloe running over to get her fans. As she was about to throw them at the Virus, fairly certain she could cut off the tail while it was distracted, Marco stopped her.

"Wait, the Virus of all things gave me an idea." He whispered something in Chloe's ear that made her nod eagerly.

The Virus went to swipe at another pillar now showing annoyance at the prey that was keeping just out of reach of it. Swiping at another pillar making it crumble Star leapt for another but was caught off guard when it shot a mist into her path making her lose focus. She slammed into the pillar with her falling into its eager jaws the teeth sinking in. But Star was not about to just go down like that and extended the Wolverine claws out slicing at the lower jaw somehow cutting off the end of it. As she regained composure the virus regrew its jaw now doing the best it could to glare murder at her as it brought its claws down on her but missed. Well it didn't miss but Marco charged in shoving Star aside taking the brunt of the blow shattering into an orange explosion himself. Star blinked in shock at that with her mouth open until she saw two Marcos begin taunting the Virus and giving quick jabs at it. The Virus seemed to chuckle and sweep its tail at them with both of them dodging the hit which did shatter one of the columns in the room. Star cocked her head in confusion as Chloe threw her fans at it scoring cuts around its head making it growl and shoot a wave of fog at her with Chloe promptly dodging. Star got up ready to charge at it with Marco suddenly appearing at her side and speaking up.

"Star, I have an idea. Get it to strike at you but have it also strike at the columns. Maybe we can bring this whole thing down and crush it." Star blinked in confusion as she replied.

"But won't we get crushed… oh right this is a video game where we technically can't die. On it." Star charged now towards the annoyed virus.

It hissed and tried breathing mist at Chloe but it's now damaged throat prevented it from attacking in that manner forcing it to charge. Chloe flipped out of the way at the last second making it collide with the pillar shattering it. Chloe tried the tactic again and did get it to strike the column but this time its tail went in a wide arc and smacked her into a wall damaging her badly. Hissing in annoyance, or the closest thing to emotion it could muster, it struck forward hammering it's head against Chloe shattering her into an explosion of orange light. Chloe suddenly found herself floating in the air and watching the fight in greyscale like how some multiplayer games did when you died. She barely had time to accept this fact however when Star charged in hissing in anger and slid underneath it slicing it from tail to head with her Wolverine claws before yelling at it.

"Think you're so tough killing my friend huh? Well come and finish me off already!" The Virus hissed and tried to comply with not so good results.

Chloe watched as Star and Marco continued to dodge around it making it hit pillar after pillar weakening the ceiling even if one of the Marcos was destroyed in the process. But just as Chloe thought she could celebrate The Virus suddenly stopped in mid swing and looked at the ceiling and said something along the lines of 'Intelligence Moderate' and moved away from the remaining pillars curling up in a circle and going back into its meditative state. Marco and Star looked at each other in confusion before approaching it cautiously weapons ready… only for Chloe to see its eyes suddenly open. Chloe tried to shout a warning but no sound came out at the Virus turned and shot a cloud of the acid out of its newly fixed throat at the two teens hitting them partially. Star seemed in good condition but Marco was now stumbling and coughing for some reason as his body seemed to shimmer.

"Uh oh." Dennis's voice rang out worried. "Marco's code has been compromised. If he is destroyed in game before the virus is… well…" As the unsaid words hung in the air Star yelled out.

"Marco, run!" The Virus then struck out at Marco hissing eagerly with Star charging it head on.

Marco stumbled away as fast as he could towards the exit but the Virus was not having any of that now and avoided Star completely to block it. Star leapt in as fast as she could, even going down on all fours, and stood between it and Marco with the two sides staring each other down. Chloe suddenly felt a pulling sensation and noticed a timer saying she was about to respawn in 10 seconds. Thinking fast she saw the Virus almost playfully jab at Star looking for weaknesses while Marco stumbled as best he could towards the pillars looking to hide. She inhaled and exhaled as she was respawning knowing if she messed this up she would just die and be sent back to the respawn area. The Virus reared back going for a serious strike at Star… but was stopped when Chloe suddenly materialized out of thin air above it and struck down with her fans slashing its eyes. Shrieking in an inhuman sound the Virus charged forward blindly striking in every direction it could as fast as it could hoping to hit something. Star and Chloe dodged it's strikes and pulled Marco out of the way as well with the Virus, conveniently, charging into the remaining pillars devastating enough of them to compromise the ceiling making it groan. As it began collapsing the virus spoke a few final words as it was disintegrated into orange light. "Intelligence Above Average." As it was destroyed the shimmering over Marco stopped, and just in time as the ceiling fell on the trio crushing them as well.

* * *

Alfonzo watched as the trio fell out of the virtualizers gasping for breath breathing a sigh of relief that Marco came out as well. He then turned towards Dennis with the two giving out a whoop whoop and doing a secret handshake that involved a lot finger twisting. Mordecai came over with three drinks that the kids took without hesitation drinking rapidly as Dennis spoke up.

"The Virus has been quarantined from the servers and the program will have it deleted within the hour, crisis averted." Benson spoke up at this heaving a sigh of relief as well.

"Yeah. Announcement team," He turned towards Modecai, Rigby, and Skips. "You guys and the others can take the rest of the day off." The trio gave a small cheer as Benson trudged towards the exit. "Do I need a stiff drink to alleviate my nerves." Dennis and Alfonzo came in close to where their friends were sitting up with Alfonzo speaking up.

"Sorry about not getting to play the game today Chloe, I know you were looking forward to it." Chloe began giggling making Alfonzo double take as she stood up smiling at him. Without any twitching or nervous hesitation she kissed him full on the lips before speaking.

"Al, I did play the game today; I fought an evil virus set on world domination in a cool and surreal world alongside some of the greatest warriors I know of. If that's not a videogame then I don't know what is." Everyone else chuckled at that with Alfonzo blushing. "The only regret I have is I couldn't play it with you, care to do that when they finally open this place?" Alfonzo's blush deepened as he stuttered out an answer.

"Y-Ye-Yes." Marco got up stretching and speaking up.

"Well to be completely honest I'm out gammed for a little while so I'll be skipping that." Star nodded and spoke up.

"Me too. And don't you rest too quickly you still have a door to repair." Star poked him in the chest with everyone giggling at him.

"*sigh* Well I guess I would have had to address it eventually. See you guys later." He waved as Star cut open a portal with the two going to step through… but Star called out to Chloe quickly.

"Oh Chloe, nice move back there. I… think you saved Marco's life. You are a good person and friend." Chloe blushed slightly and looked down bashfully. "Say I'm a having a girl get together the day after tomorrow, care to join me and the girls?" Chloe brightened up at that nodding eagerly with sparkling eyes.

"I'd love to Star! Xièxiè (Thank you)!" She bowed to Star who only giggled at that and walked through the portal closing it behind her.

Alfonzo smiled at Chloe and put his arm around her shoulders with Chloe snuggling in close to him. 'I think she's finally leaving the past behind her as well as learning from it. Thank you for saying that one line Star.' Alfonzo thought to himself while Dennis watched the exchange in confusion speaking to himself.

"Um… did I miss something?"

 **WH: *Panting as Reality limps away in shock* Well, guess that's over with. Let's get you guys out and at em. *turns towards the audience* I also have a few recommendations for you folks, starting off with RJ Writing Ink the blogger. This guy has recommended several fanfics or otherwise from Star vs that I think a really good so perhaps you should stop by to check up on him. If you want to find him just type in his name into google, it really is that simple. Another recommendation is a new fanfic.**

 **'Royal Secrets' by Blackwolfwrites: For those of you that were disappointed in season four, I liked it even though it did have far more flaws then I thought it would have, this guy is rewriting it the way he thought it should have gone. Honestly, though it's only four chapters long as of this chapter's publishing, I have to say it is really good. First off it gets the love triangle dealt with before you are even 1/4 through the first chapter... although there are some 'effects' that add drama to the story. Highly recommend at this point. 8.5/10 stars.**

 **'Proven Wrong' on AO3(Diffrent website): A GLORIOUS DAY IS UPON US PEOPLE. ANOTHER AUTHOR HAS DARED TO WRITE A STORY OF HOW MOON AND TOFFEE FIRST MET! 'A Tale of Moon and Monsters' is no longer the only story that shows how Moon and Toffee got together, my ship no longer stands alone. *sniff* So beautiful. This story shows how Moon and Toffee met with Toffee of all people initiating the negotiations to try and bring peace between Monsters and Mewmans with Comet and Moon being a bit more eager to help then he thought they would be. Easy 9/10 stars.**

 **theDorkMagnet (author): I have not done this before, but this author is just on average such a good author I find I have to recommend him to you lot. Want a grasp of how good he is, he is the one who wrote 'Light of the Sun and Stars', perhaps the BEST long story fanfic in all of this fandom; better... then 'Star The Monster Princess'.**

 **Oh, it's also time once again for.**

 **Audience: Guest Reviews.**

 **Unnamed Guest one: I'm... unsure about your recommendation honestly at the moment. I did not get a chance to read more then a few chapters but I' hoping it pans out so I can recommend it.**

 **Anna: Well I recommended it here, and it was gloriously good to read another MoonxToffee origin story. ;)**

 **The Opinionator: You will find out all about those questions soon enough. Nice to see you're on board still after the long wait.**

 **1tr0lu: um, I did not message you... I think. Well regardless I'm up and kicking. Who are you anyways?**

 **Sugar: I liked both of those shows and they fit so why not. And I had to give Dennis a bit more character then the show gave him if I want to include him more.**

 **The Book of Eli: Yup that's grandma's for you, stubborn egos for some. The game is** **changing** **and the characters must change with them. And yes, Code Lyoko with members from regular show, could you really ask for more in terms of** **references** **?**

 **Anyways, I got friends to thaw... say how did the Spongebob Narrator narrate while he was frozen? Regardless next up we get to see a cool performance bro from our friends 'Lil Marco and the Naysaya'.**


	88. Lil Marco and the Naysaya Pt 1

**The WH seems to be trying to get a surround sound speaker working while dressed in some sort of medieval outfit. As he works on it Janna, OP, and The SN come around the corner looking annoyed.**

 **Janna: Dude, we've been waiting forever.**

 **WH: Well I'm sorry that this book keeps on putting me to sleep people, it's not easy to read these things. *A spark emerges from the system* Ah excellent, that means it's working. Get the guitar, I need to do a test run on this...**

 **OP: *hands him a guitar***

 **WH: Oh, excellent now then. *strums the guitar with the shock wave sending him through a wall.* ow.**

 **SN: Next time check the volume. Enjoy the episode folks.**

"Star!" Star blinked her eyes open and awake pulling herself out of a deep dream. "Star!" She looked around her room in shock as a high pitched child's voice called out. "Star, I didn't go back to normal; you said I would!" Star rubbed her eyes waking up and turned to see a 4 year old child shaking her awake and spoke up in confusion.

"Wha… who are…" She then came fully awake looking over the child and remembered thanks to that adorable mole he had. "Marco! Why are you so young… and so cute?" She booped his mole with Marco groaning in anger and frustration before he replied.

"You turned me to look like this so you and your friends could play dress up!" Star blinked in shock as last night came flooding back in.

* * *

 _"Hey Star, what do you want?" Marco walked into Star's room with Star smiling slyly at him with Agateor doing the same from the nightstand. "Ummm…" Star giggled a little with Marco looking around in worry. "… should I be worried?" Star shrugged while repressing a chuckle before speaking._

 _"Oh nothing to really worry about, I was just thinking… you messed up my wand and kicked down my door due to a lack of self-restraint. Soooooo I thought a 'punishment' would be in order." Star got up holding a small flask of something she jiggled around with Marco now looking panicked._

 _"Star that first one was an accident that I fixed and the door I fixed as well." Marco began backing away but found his path blocked by Starfan13, Janna, Chloe, Ponyhead, Kelly, Jackie, and Alexis who had massive shit-eating grins on their faces. "I don't feel safe." Marco squeaked out as Star opened up the flask speaking up._

 _"Oh don't worry you're not going to be hurt; we're just going to have some fun." The girls all giggled as Star flicked some of the liquid that was in it out with it landing on Marco's skin almost instantly being absorbed in. "You know how Father Time allowed us to take some of his mud? Well it turns out when the water to taken out of the mud it does something similar to those clocks on the river of time." Marco's eyes went wide with fear and he began to sweat in panic as he spoke silently with fear._

 _"Wait… you don't mean…" Star nodded as a soft light encased Marco moving outwards from where the water landed. The sound of a cuckoo clock went off with Marco's form shimmering out of focus before reforming with the light fading away to reveal a 4 year old Marco. He was wearing a red t-shirt with grey pants and adorably little shoes. Marco looked around in shock until he spied himself in Star's mirror and yelled out in the most adorable little child's voice. "OH COME ON, I'm even younger then when we were in the time dimension!" Marco sat down and folded his arms doing the most adorable pout with all the girls responding as one would expect._

 _"AWWWWWWWW, he's so cute!" The girls immediately pulled out a large suitcase from out in the hallway opening it up. "Guess what we have in mind for you." They immediately pulled out female dress up cloths and make up with Star speaking up._

 _"Now remember: no taking off his underwear, talking about this to anyone else unless if he brings it up, and NO posting pictures to the internet. Now let's get this punishment started." They turned towards Marco who now had a look of panic on his face with each of the participants speaking up._

 _Starfan13: "Let's make him pretty."_

 _Agateor: "Gurl, he'sh gonna look fabooulous."_

 _Alexis: "How well can you pull off these clothes?"_

 _Ponyhead: "I got his blush and lipstick."_

 _Kelly: "I got his hair."_

 _Chloe: "And I got his eyeliner."_

 _Jackie: "Don't worry little dude, you're gonna love this."_

 _Janna: "Time to experiment." Marco was surrounded by them offering no escape as he spoke up._

 _"No, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Outside several people were walking by with all of them looking scared now._

 _"Ok seriously what is going on with that house?!"_

 _"I don't know man; maybe we should call the police this time."_

* * *

"… oh yeah we did do that. And if I remember correctly *hehe* you started posing when we took pictures towards the end." Marco opened his mouth to answer but stopped mid inhale. "Jackie told ya you would enjoy your punishment." Star ruffled his hair, somehow feeling even more fluffy at this age, with Marco blushing and batting her hand away.

"That's not important, what's important is that the Renaissance festival is today!" Star went to answer and stopped remembering what was going on today.

"Oh right, that get together of people to celebrate 'ye olden times'." Star put air quotes around the last words as Marco pouted.

"I can't go like this; I was supposed to go as a cool knight. Now if I do so I'll look ridiculous." Marco sat with his back to Star.

"Wait, the effects were supposed to wear off according to Gloss… damnit is he just pulling my leg on this one." Star rushed over to her magic book opening it with Glossarick popping out looking like he was training some bugs to perform in a circus. "Glossarick, you were wrong. Marco's not back to normal." Star pointed at a still pouting Marco with Glossarick looking at him with ininterest raising an eyebrow slightly before speaking.

"Well of course he's not, didn't you hear me several nights ago?" Star raised an eyebrow in confusion. "*sigh* For someone who's usually so attentive you can let things slip by rather easily. I said he would go back to normal after a long night's rest AND eight hours have passed before the rest, naps not counting against the total time." Star's mouth hung open as Glossarick shrugged. "But whatever, he'll be back to normal tomorrow morning no biggie. Now if you will excuse me I need to get Stinky to jump properly here." He closed the book with Star staring at the book in disbelief falling to her knees. She blinked a few times before turning her head towards Marco who was glaring at her making her speak up.

"Uh… he didn't speak to clearly he tends to mumble a lot. I did hear it could go back to normal and thought that it would just go away with a night's rest, it always does. Unless if you need to specifically need to undo it with magic or a certain action it always is undone with a night's rest *hehe* and it does but there's a stipulation as well that I didn't hear because I was looking forward to the night and all the girls were and I thought it would be adorable and… and…" Star shuddered for a second before her head fell with a sigh. "I'm sorry Marco. I was messing with you because you jumped in head first but I just did the same." A shuffling from the bed got her to look up and see Marco move over to her looking up at her.

"Look Star, you gotta be more careful with the details so bad things don't happen… but I do understand and forgive you. I mean it would be hypocritical for me not to honestly." Marco smiled up at Star who smiled back… before she dropped to her knees and embraced him in a hug which he returned.

"Awwww, how shweet." They both looked up to see Agateor was watching them from the nightstand. "I wish Jushtin had made is move on is math tutor at shome point. By the way, you were FABOOULOUS boi." Marco chuckled a little at that before replying.

"Yeah, I guess I was. I'm still ok with going to the festival Star so if we could…" Marco was stopped from pulling away however when Star pulled him onto her lap nuzzling into his hair and murmuring.

"Mmmmm, you smell like you normally do except with a little cut grass and milk mixed in." Star inhaled deeply holding Marco tightly against her. "You smell so good." Marco blinked feeling himself go red as he replied.

"Star we need to meet with everyone in 1.5 hours. And this feels kind of creepy given our age difference right now." Agateor spoke up at that.

"I don know, looks kinda cute like a brother and shistah." Star giggled before replying.

"Yeah it's just hugging Marco, now if I was kissing you on the lips that would be creepy. Speaking of which we should avoid doing that until the effects wear off." Marco nodded and tried to move again with Star maintaining her grip. "5 more minutes." Marco sighed and folded his arms as Agateor snickered in the background.

* * *

A group was gathered at the 'usual' spot with Ferguson, Oskar, Janna, Starfan13, Chloe, and Alfonzo talking amongst themselves as Floyd preened himself in the background. Ferguson was wearing a wizard's robe and hat, Janna was dressed as a witch/sorceress, Alfonzo was dressed as an elf, Oskar was dressed like a bard (supposedly), Starfan13 was dressed like a stereotypical princess, and Chloe was dressed as a fairy. As they spoke Starfan13 started twitching and giggling in a fangirl manner with everyone nodding in consent that Star was approaching. Sure enough Star appeared, dressed in a Xena Warrior Princess outfit of all things, and everyone went to wave but stopped when they saw a 4 year old kid dressed like a knight struggling to keep up with Star.

"Star I can't move that fast with these short legs!" Star looked at Marco chuckling slightly as she replied.

"You know I could always carry you." Marco shook his head no and kept on running to keep up with Star as Alfonzo commented.

"Um, who's the little dude?" Star turned to everyone and smiled while chuckling nervously.

"Oh this is Marco." Everyone blinked in confusion at this with Chloe, Starfan13, and Janna nodding after a few seconds. "Funny story guys *hehe* something went wrong with my magic again and I turned Marco into a 4 year old. It will fix itself by tomorrow morning but until then he's stuck as a 4 year old." The boys stared at Marco in shock as Janna smiled with a mischievous glint in her eye.

As she went to speak however Star stared at her with cat-pupil yellow eyes and a cold gaze that even made the cool and indifferent Janna hesitate under her gaze. Star then figuratively zipped her mouth, locked it, and threw away the key with Janna doing the same. The girls all shared a look with the meaning clear, 'only speak of it if Marco brings it up'. As the girls reestablished their agreement Ferguson spoke up to Marco.

"Cool you're so small and adorable in that knight outfit." Marco pouted in the most adorable manner as he replied.

"I wanted to be an awesome knight but now I'm only gonna look adorable. I wanted to be a figure that wasn't known for its adorableness for once." At this Janna spoke up.

"Aw, do you want a juice box lil Marco?" At this everyone, including Star, began laughing at that with Marco fuming.

"Don't call me that!" He folded his arms as he pouted. "And besides you know I can't open those things." Several people nodded in agreement at that with Floyd reaching his head down near Marco. "What do you want?" Floyd picked Marco up with a yelp putting him in a makeshift nest with Oskar speaking up.

"Don't worry man, it means he likes you." Everyone chuckled at that again with Alfonzo's face suddenly going serious as he spoke up.

"Wait, how old is Marco now?" Star stared at Marco a second as he tried to get out of the nest with Floyd shoving him back in.

"I think around 4 years old." At that Alfonzo got a worried look.

"Oh… well problem here is…" Everyone looked at him in concern making him stutter for a second. "… well… if you are under age 13 you can't get in unless if you have an adult over age 18 to accompany you." Everyone looked at him not shocked but more confused. "I read it on the pamphlet that came out about the events." Starfan13 shrugged.

"Eh, maybe people won't notice or we can smuggle him in." At this Ferguson spoke up.

"And with that in mind we need to get going people, the event opens in 10 minutes." Star nodded and took out her scissors opening up a portal with everyone moving in. Star went to step in but stopped thinking for a second with Marco commenting.

"Um Star, what gives?" Star thought for a second before smiling.

"I need to get something real quick. Don't worry it won't be more than 5 minutes." She leaned down going to kiss Marco on the lips but stopped and instead kissed his cheek before cutting another portal. "See you there." Star stepped through her portal with Marco looking after her for a second before stepping through to the fair.

* * *

Marco looked around taking in the sights around him shivering ever so slightly as everything just seemed so much… bigger and more intimidating. And what's more everything seemed so much louder making Marco thankful he had his helmet on to at least muffle out some of the noise. Everyone was also glancing over at Floyd at some point a bit wierded out by a gigantic bird just standing there. As he glanced around he shuffled in closer to his group overhearing Oskar's words.

"… so Tempest is gonna pick me up and join 'The Bounce Gang' for the battle of the bands coming up tonight at this festival." Chloe commented on this.

"Interesting how their taking place at the same place and same day." Starfan13 shrugged and spoke up.

"Eh probably just the different event sponsors working together to save money." Marc o inadvertently moved close enough so that he bumped into Janna's leg with her looking down with a mischievous grin.

"Oh hey, wanna hold my hand so you don't get lost lil Marco." Marco shivered and stepped back shaking his head no while replying

"Nu uh, you're the scariest thing around here." Janna chuckled and looked proud of herself as Ferguson spoke up.

"I'll take that hand if Marco's not gonna take it." Janna giggled mischievously and grabbed onto Ferguson's hand shocking him. As smoke came off of him he blinked in shock before looking down at the hand to see there was no zapper in her hand. "You used a 'shocking grasp' on me didn't you?" Janna nodded smiling mischievously with Ferguson returning the gaze. "Awesome..." He leaned in to kiss Janna's cheek which wound up shocking Janna. "… two can play at that game as our love is enlightening." Janna laughed out loud and they kissed straight up on the lips shocking each other laughing even more.

Marco shrugged at that and tried to keep close to his friends looking out for Star hoping she would find them. 'Should be easy given Floyd is here.' Marco thought to himself wishing he was taller so he could get a good look around. As he casually glanced around he heard a rush of people come by and stepped to get out of the way accidentally stepping away from his friends in the process. As the group went by Marco had to nimbly dodge in order to keep from being trampled by the inattentive people going by, mostly what appeared to be a bunch of Folk and Power metal fans it seemed. Thankfully he accomplished this despite his small frame due to his athletic abilities only to realize he had lost his group of friends. He looked up as high as he could even jumping up and down to get a better view but he was just too short to see anything, even Floyd was out of sight. At this point Marco began to panic wishing he had taken Janna's hand despite the shock he would have received. He began running around looking for his group before he heard a female's voice call out to him.

"Hello, are you lost?" Marco stopped and turned to see a woman with a baby strapped to her back coming up to him. Marco hesitated a second before speaking.

"Um yeah, I was with my friends but we got separated by the crowd and I can't see them anywhere." She held out her hand to him smiling and speaking up.

"Well perhaps I can help you find them…"

'Space Unicorn, soaring through the stars! Delivering the Rainbows all around the world!' Marco froze as his phone began ringing and the woman looked at him in confusion. Marco tried to pulled it out but he was still having trouble with the fine motor control functions and couldn't get it out and open it up in time before the ringing stopped. Nearby several people had overheard the ringing and were giggling with mutters of how cute it was that the boy love 'Space Unicorn.' Marco groaned and spoke up at that.

"It's supposed to be ironic." The woman chuckled with another female's voice being heard.

"There you are, I knew your ringtone would lead me right to you." Marco and the mother looked up to see Star approaching… except it wasn't Star.

This woman looked like Star exactly, even wearing the same cloths, but she was in her mid to late-twenties or there about. She was also carrying what seemed to be a mixture of a large purse and a cooler over one shoulder. Once again Marco found himself inadvertently admiring her 'Butterfly Milf' figure mostly because the outfit she was wearing complemented that figure rather well. Star came over and leaned down next to Marco to speak but he grabbed her in a hug.

"I'm not gonna let go, I got separated from everyone and I can't find them." Star returned the hug even to the point of lifting him up as she replied.

"Yeah I figured you were lost in the crowd when I saw our friends pass into the festival without a complaint from the staff." At this the woman spoke up.

"Oh are you his mother?" Star and Marco turned towards her with the woman looking Star up and down with some envy. Marco looked at Star who answered with a moment's hesitation.

"Yes I am actually, Star Butterfly." She held out her hand while the other arm held Marco up with him still grabbing onto her. The woman shook Star's hand before replying.

"You have… a very good if confusing costume. Also, I know this is not an important question, but how do you keep yourself in such good shape?" Star scrambled for an answer for a second prompting Marco to speak up.

"Well… mommy tends to do a lot of stuff in her 'workout' room when she's not with me." It felt weird calling Star mommy but somehow it felt kind of satisfying to him. The woman was paying attention to Marco so she didn't catch Star double take at Marco's words which was a relief as the woman might have gotten suspicious if they didn't play it cool. The woman chuckled slightly and ruffled Marco's hair speaking up.

"Well I hope you two have a wonderful day and please…" She fixed Star with a serious stare. "… don't lose your son again." Star nodded with the woman walking away waving at them. "And your son has some nice hair, just wanted to point that out." This made Star giggle and Marco deadpan as she walked out of sight. After a few seconds they both sighed in relief with Marco speaking up.

"Man that was actually kind of scary being lost in a crowd like that. I don't wanna be alone around here anymore." Star smiled at him rubbing his head replying to him.

"Well don't worry; I'm not leaving your side anytime soon." Marco spoke up after a few seconds of head rubbing.

"Say why are you an adult anyways?" Star smiled as she replied.

"Well when there was a chance you couldn't go in without an adult I decided to be the adult thanks to the very water that made you a kid." Marco blinked in confusion before he remembered what had happened in the time dimension. "Oh also I got some stuff for you." She reached into her cooler-purse and pulled out a juice box. "I thought you might be thirsty at some point so I got something for you." Marco blinked and got an offended look on his face as he crossed his arms.

"Really Star, fucking really?" Star blinked in shock before giggling. "What's so funny? I can't open those things, me and juice boxes don't mix." Star finished giggling and set him on the ground before replying.

"I'm sorry but a little kid swearing is just really funny for some reason. And besides if you can't open them…" Star used one of her claws to poke a hole in the top before inserting the straw. "… you can always ask for some." She handed it to Marco with him taking it with some reverence. "I can't let my little man go his whole life without having tasted a juice box." Marco brought the juice box up to his face taking a sip with his eyes going wide and speaking softly.

"White grape." 'Oh my Gods he's so adorable!' Star thought to herself as she took one of his hands leading him to the entrance.

"Now come on, everyone's probably wondering where we are right now." Star led him to the entrance with Marco following along sipping his juice with a smile on both of their faces.

They got into the festival without any trouble as everyone just believed Marco was Star's son but they did attract attention to themselves. A lot of people admired a mother who seemed to be really committed to her outfit and introducing her son to these events. Many people also admired simply how cute Marco was in his knight outfit sipping on a juice box as he held his 'mother's' hand. In addition there were a few people who stopped to admire the 'hot momma' who was going by prompting Marco to move in defensively close to Star while glaring at them. It was a rather quick matter of finding their friends considering Floyd was nearby but getting their attention was not so easy. After they called out and got close however the group finally did notice but just stood there in shock at what they saw with Ferguson speaking up

"I… uh… what…" Starfan13 interrupted Ferguson's stumbling of words.

"What's going on and what happened to Star?" Marco responded to that pulling the juice box away from his face.

"Star remembered Alfonzo's words and didn't want to take any chances with me being left out so she used a spell to make herself older so she could bring me in." Marco resumed sucking on the juice box with Oskar commenting.

"So you're his mommy basically." Star nodded as she replied.

"Well yeah I guess so." At this Janna smiled devilishly as she spoke to Star.

"Damn girl you're already having him call you mommy." Marco sucked in the juice a little too fast at those words and began coughing. "Imagine what Marco's mom will have to say about that." Marco was now blushing profusely as Star cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Wait, what do mean by…" Suddenly realization hit her and she began blushing. "Oh nononononononono it's not like that Janna!" Janna waggled her eyebrows at Star as she replied.

"Well that's a shame considering how Marco has a fetish for your family's body shape." At this the group of friends looked at Janna in shock before turning to Marco who was now trying to hide behind Star's legs hiding his face behind his hands. After a few awkward seconds from Marco Chloe spoke up.

"Well who wouldn't, you grow up to be a hot momma girlfriend." Star blushed again at this as Starfan13 commented.

"Yeah you're rockin it girl big time." Alfonzo and Ferguson looked like they wanted to say something but were holding back as their girlfriends were right next to them. Janna noticed this and elbowed Ferguson lightly while speaking up.

"What do you think man, hot momma?" Ferguson immediately calmed down as Janna's teasing meant she was alright with it.

"Definitely hot momma." The group chuckled at Ferguson's words as the atmosphere relaxed a bit with Marco coming out and Alfonzo speaking.

"Awww, Marco's so cute drinking from his juice bo… wait how did you get that open?" Marco glanced at the box for a second before glancing up at Star.

"So, you got your mommy to help you out?" Starfan13's words made Marco look down again before murmuring.

"Yes." The whole group let out a unified 'AWWWWWW', even Floyd joined in, with Oskar speaking up.

"Dude, that's just adorable no matter how you put it." Star chuckled before lifting Marco up and balancing him on her hip while planting a kiss on his forehead.

"Anything for my little man." Marco instinctively held onto Star while sucking from his juice box.

Everyone immediately pulled out camera's with eyes begging for permission to take some pictures. Star looked down at Marco raising her eyebrows asking for permission with Marco nodding slowly and turning towards the camera's trying to make himself look adorable. 'Well at some point you just have to go along with it I guess.' Marco thought to himself as people took pictures of the two.

"Well now where to first?" Before anyone could answer Star's question however Mr. Lancer came up to the group dressed in some sort of nobleman's outfit.

"Kids *pant pant* where is Star, I need her help." Everyone immediately pointed towards Marco and Star with Lancer getting a bit miffed. "I said where is Star?" Star spoke up at that.

"Um it is me Mr. Lancer." Lancer double took at Star looking her up and down before speaking.

"THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, and I thought our kids grew up fast." Everyone laughed as he looked at Marco. "Wait this wouldn't happen to be your magic at work here right?" Star nodded a little bashfully at that. "Well it's ok accidents happen but I need your help!"

"With what exactly?" Lancer pulled down his collar at Star's words to reveal a little head attached to his neck that was giggling. "Oh… that looks bad." At this Marco spoke up.

"How does a simple trip to the Renaissance fair result in this?!"

 **Psst: A person by the name of Acorntree144 was so inspired by my work that they made a youtube music video somewhat based off of my work. How... how do I inspire people that much? Now it is 'inspired' by my work rather then an exact copy as there is a limit this one can do in editing. Regardless, it's actually really good considering only one person made it and they had very little content to work off of in show. Do check it out.**

 **Moon/Toffee - Stars Will Never Fall - feat. Mon!Star A** **U (/watch?v=o-XWtQv76z0 &)**


	89. Lil Marco and the Naysaya Pt 2

**Did you check out Acorntree144's video?**

 **...**

 **...**

 **You did not did you? Well:** **Moon/Toffee - Stars Will Never Fall - feat. Mon!Star A** **U (/watch?v=o-XWtQv76z0 &). If you did I do apologize, but this one needs credit for a job well done.**

 _Earlier_

Lancer adjusted his outfit a little bit in what he knew was nervous reflexes as his neck itched a bit. Honestly he should not be nervous yet as for now it is just two friends 'hanging out' as the younger kids would put it, but it didn't feel that way given what he had planned for the end of the day. He hadn't actually met with Helsinki in person since the school event but they had talked with each other quite a bit and had grown kind of close. She even claimed the stuff they talked about was stuff she normally disliked but said he made it interesting at the very least; in other words she just liked talking to him and spending time with him and he enjoyed it as well. His plan for the day was to actually spend time with her and see if they got along well enough for him to 'make his move' on her to see if they could be more than friends. He scratched his neck idly for what felt like the 15th time that hour as he felt a wave of nervousness spike; understandable as he had not done this for literal decades and had not really encountered success. In fact he was wondering if perhaps he should just accept them as being friends and nothing… 'No no get a hold of yourself! She decided to come see the Renaissance Festival and you are finally working up some courage, don't back out now.' Granted it might not be her type of event all things considered but the steampunk folks and the bands at the end of the day might catch her interest. He scratched at his neck some more thinking it really strange that he had a rash that left no mark and found it peculiar that it started right after Helsinki agreed to meet up with him here. He tossed those thoughts aside however when he saw a portal open and Helsinki step out of it with small flourish and a cocksure grin he found charming. She immediately picked him out despite his change in clothes and came over speaking up in her rather enlivening cockney accent.

"Well ello there Lancah. Odd to see ya dressed loike a nobleman eh." Lancer shrugged resisting the urge to scratch at himself.

"Well today it makes sense to dress like this all things considered." He gestured to the people coming into the festival. "Today's event is sort of a mixture of a historical reenactment and a party." Helsinki looked around nodding her head in appreciation as she answered.

"Oh so loike the school event?" Lancer thought about it a second before he chuckled.

"Yeah you could sa- I HAVE NO SOCIAL LIFE ASIDE FROM THIS!" Lancer clapped his hands over his mouth as Helsinki froze before slowly turning to him blinking in concern.

"Uhhhh, wot was that?" Lancer lowered his hands as the itching sensation increased tenfold.

"*hehe* What was what?" Helsinki rubbed her chin in concern before turning away to look around. "Anyways, this is pretty similar to the- I HAVEN'T HAD A DATE IN MY LIFE!" Lancer clamped his hands over his mouth again with Helsinki looking at him in confusion.

"Interestin that ya tell me this but ok. Anyways, where are these 'Steampunk' folks you told me about?" Lancer kept his mouth shut to the best of his capabilities while pointing to where he knew they were. "Well lead the way Lancah." He led her towards them while berating himself in his mind.

'What is wrong with you old man; I had trouble with nervousness in the past but not this bad.' He resisted the urge to scratch himself again as he thought about what to do next. As they got closer Helsinki seemed to be asking him something but he didn't hear most of it as he sweated nervously. 'Come on there has to be some way I can communicate with her without screaming like a lunatic… of course I can try writing to her!' Of course that was weird as well but he had to keep his cool somehow and he had few options.

"Eh eh." Lancer turned towards Helsinki who was looking a might bit annoyed and concerned. "You goin deaf in one ear mate? I asked ow these people build their own contraptions." Lancer raised a finger up to hold her for a second. "Wot?" She blinked in confusion as he pulled out some paper and a pencil. "You jus… carry dat stuff on you?" Lancer shrugged and began writing. "Well dat makes sense… I guess." He was losing her and needed to write fast. After he finished he handed her the paper with her reading it. "I… wot? You peed your pants until you were 7 years old?" Lancer snatched the paper away from her realizing he had somehow written that down instead of his answer to her. He tore up the paper and began panicking.

"Sorry I just- I SHOWER…" He slapped himself with Helsinki stepping back in concern with several people nearby noticing as well. "What is wrong with- I SHOWER WI…" He slapped himself again with his neck now not only itchy but now burning. "Gah stop it." He started scratching at the spot with Helsinki speaking up.

"You ok, that doesn't look good." Lancer shook his head no as he grabbed at his neck shaking and fell to his knees groaning slightly. "Let me see that." Helsinki pulled away his hands to take a look at the spot.

He saw her freeze in shock as something seemed to pull itself out of his neck forming a small circular bubble. The pain died down as the bubble extended out from his neck on a neck of its own with a face forming on it smiling gleefully. Lancer and Helsinki looked at it in shock with the small head speaking up.

"Oh oh, Lancer covers the mirror when he showers because *hehehe* because because he's ashamed of his own body." Lancer looked up at Helsinki with her staring at it a small smile forming on her lips.

"Well dat's both disturbin an cute." Lancer began panicking and started running away. "Wait, where ya goin?" the little head chuckled and replied for him.

"He's running away because *hehehe* because because he's doesn't want to look lame in front of you since he…" Lancer covered the head making it mumble as he ran away yelling over his shoulder.

"Sorry Helsinki, I'll be right back hopefully!" Helsinki started after him but she was intercepted by people who recognized her from the school event and when she had blown up the school by accident once. He looked around desperately for a bolt hole or better yet someone to help him out needing a miracle here, and he got one when he saw Floyd nearby knowing if Oskar was here Star might and she knew of these kinds of things. 'I need to find Star, she'll know what to do… right?'

* * *

"I have no idea what that is."

"What!" Everyone looked back and forth between Lancer and Star as Star replied to his outburst.

"Well the book of spells has nothing that involves a little head popping out of your body and start speaking." Star leaned in close to inspect the little head with it chuckling. "Say who are you by chance?" The head giggled before speaking.

"Oh I am the Naysaya, nice to meet you."

"Naysaya?" Star stood back up straight.

"That spell succe… I mean…" Everyone immediately turned towards Janna who was concealing nervousness with mixed results. "… A Naysaya, what's that?" Everyone immediately raised their eyebrows at Janna excluding Ferguson who trying to keep his cool as well.

"Janna…" Marco spoke up while folding his arms. "What did you do?" Janna glanced around at the circle of suspicious faces speaking up.

"Why do all of you think I had something to do with this?" As everyone did not move from their positions she seemed to get a bit flustered. "Oh come on I get blamed for everything by you guys." Ferguson sighed and shook his head speaking up.

"Guys, WE put that curse on Lancer as a training exercise." Everyone nodded with confirmed suspicions with one shocked look in the group who spoke up then.

"Ferguson, why would you cast a curse on our principal?!" Everyone glanced at Alfonzo following his outburst with Ferguson replying.

"Because we thought it wouldn't activate. The curse of the Naysaya only affects a person when they go to court their love and we thought Lancer wouldn't do that. We were just testing to see if we could cast a spell like that with the second rate materials we have been able to muster." He put his head in his hands sitting on the ground. "I'm sorry Mr. Lancer, I knew we should have gone for Mrs. Skullnick." Janna to her credit actually did look a bit ashamed of what she did at this point with her eyes cast towards the ground. As that happened Starfan13 spoke up.

"Wait, 'court their love'? You have been trying to woo someone Principal?" Everyone looked at Lancer who was trying to look at anything else but the group with the Naysaya speaking up.

"Oh yes yes, he had a plan to woo *hehe* the woman most out of his league Helsinki Greyjoy."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Everyone looked up at the noise Star had made with Star realizing what she had just done. "*ahem* Sorry, just got really excited there people. I mean, Lancer could be my actual uncle." Star seemed giddy at the thought with Oskar speaking up.

"You have some weird priorities if you want the Principal to be your uncle man." Lancer spoke up after that.

"Well I don't think it matters, I can't get within 20 feet of her without this thing blurting out all my inner insecurities." He glared at Janna and Ferguson who tried to avoid eye contact with him. "So you kids are going to get this thing off my neck NOW!" Everyone blinked in shock at that as despite everything he was still holding himself in an intimidating manner. After a second of quiet Janna spoke up with her demeanor slightly cracked.

"We… can't. The Naysaya is a curse, and unless there is a special trick designed within the curse itself you can't remove those with anything short of cleaving magic designed to strike the soul. The only way to get the Naysaya off is to see it through to the end." As Lancer was about to yell at her Marco spoke up.

"She's actually right. Curses can't be removed unless if you possess that kind of magic or the curse has a way for it to be undone; usually in a type of riddle of irony." Lancer groaned and turned back to the duo.

"Ok then, how long will it take." Ferguson shrugged replying to that.

"That depends, how insecure are you?" At this Lancer's intimidating atmosphere fell away leaving him with a 10,000 yard stare.

"Well shit." Everyone blinked again in confusion and shock as the principal cursed and then turned around and walked away. After watching him go for few seconds Star began to follow him calling over her shoulder.

"You go ahead, I'm gonna help him. And you two…" She glared at Janna and Ferguson. "… you are gonna make this up to him in the future, got it." The two nodded as Star followed Lancer with Marco behind her.

"I'm coming Star, wait for me." As the group was left there reeling from the impact Chloe was the first to speak up.

"Ok… do we go help them or do we enjoy the fair as best we can?" Everyone looked back and forth between each other with Alfonzo speaking up.

"I'm not really sure."

* * *

"Lancer, Lancer." Marco called out while holding onto Star's back as she moved after Lancer attracting weird stares in the process. "We just want to help you." Lancer was somehow keeping ahead of them and not slowing down in the slightest. "Star can't you stop him with magic?" Star thought to herself for a second before speaking.

"Ok, loopy lasso of…" Star went to cast a spell but pulled out another juice box instead of her wand. "… wait did I leave it back home?" Marco groaned with Star thinking for another second. "Oh I have another idea." She picked Marco off her back and aimed him at Lancer. "Alright just keep your limbs in tight lil Marco." Marco spoke up annoyed at her.

"Don't call me- wait what are you…" Star then threw Marco like a football at Lancer. "STAAAAR!" Marco flew through the air with Lancer not even noticing Marco coming in until he was impacted on the head knocking him to the ground face first. As Marco got up as best he could shaking off his sudden flight Lancer groaned into the ground before speaking.

"First a curse and now this. What's next, tap-dancing rhinos?" Star pulled up next to them dusting Marco off and then pulling Lancer's head out of the ground before speaking.

"Sorry Mr. Lancer, but I couldn't think of any other way to get your attention as you were just ignoring me." Lancer groaned as he rested his head on his hands in the laying down position. "Come on, what's bothering you?" The Naysaya giggled before speaking up.

"He's pussying out because *giggle* because because he's so insecure." Marco and Star looked at each other in concern as Lancer spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm never going to reach the end of this curse honestly. The Naysaya even said he will eventually start saying things when Helsinki is not around just because." The duo looked at the Naysaya who smirked, irking them to no end. "So perhaps I should… just not go out in public for a while; what say you?" Lancer went to get back up with Star grasping at something to say to get Lancer to stick around, until Marco spoke up.

"Awww, no need to be scared." They both turned to look at Marco who had drawn a face on his finger somehow and was speaking through it. "You can't let a Naysaya hold you back when going for the one you love. Sometimes you just have to reveal and face your insecurities if you want to be with someone you care about so much." Marco then grabbed Star's hand with his own making her blush slightly. "If Helsinki doesn't accept you with those insecurities then maybe she's not as good as you think she is." Lancer sat there deep in thought as Star turned towards Marco thinking to herself.

'Gods damn it all if he wasn't a toddler I would kiss and snuggle him so MUCH right now.' She picked up Marco thinking that perhaps she could get away with the snuggling and held him close like a stuffed animal purring happily. 'How does this boy know exactly what to say?' Star thought some more as Marco returned the hug keeping his eyes on Lancer. As they sat there for an unknown length of time Lancer gave a noticeable intake of air and stood up prompting Star to look up at him. With a look of determination on his face he spoke to Star.

"Can you help me find Helsinki, I know exactly what I need to do right now." Star gave a soft squee and stood up hugging Lancer with Marco being squished between them before speaking.

"Don't worry, we'll be with you every step of the way." Lancer returned the hug with Marco gasping between them.

"Hello, having trouble breathing."

Hey you two, I know it's a close moment but let your kid have some air." The two parted with Marco falling with a soft thud to look at the guy who spoke to them. "And don't drop your kid, that's just unprofessional." Star and Lancer both blushed with Star speaking up.

"He's not the father of my kid, he's just a friend." 'Wow that sounded eerily natural coming out of my mouth.' Star thought to herself in shock as she picked up Marco. "His dad is back home right now while I am spending the day with him." The guy raised his hands in surrender taking a step back.

"Sorry mam just don't like seeing kids get hurt; unless they're little shits." Lancer immediately clamped his hands over Marco's ears before speaking in a cross tone of voice.

"Sir, language. Nothing bothers me anymore but he's only 4." The guys shrugged walking away speaking over his shoulder.

"You sure he's not the dad, cause he sure acts like it." 'Not dignifying that.' Star thought to herself rolling her eyes as she spoke to Lancer.

"Let's go find her.

* * *

Helsinki looked through the display cases a might bit disappointed in what she found. It wasn't that they weren't pleasing to look at or lacking in usefulness in some cases, but it was a bit less then she had hoped for. This was the planet with technology light years ahead of her own home and this is what she had to browse through? 'Well Lancer did say that this was more for show than anything else.' She thought to herself once more going over the conversations they had over the mirror in her head. Normally for something like that she would work and talk at the same time to get work done and keep herself focused, she disliked being still for too long, but she found him an oddly relaxing sort of man. She once sat and talked with him for nearly two hours without getting bored in the slightest and, strangest of all, it was about politics and the economy; stuff she had literally fallen asleep over in the past. She decided to come to this event today because even if it was boring she was fairly certain he would keep it interesting at least. 'But then he just ran off after a head popped out of his neck… actually that does make too much sense honestly.' Helsinki shrugged her shoulders picking up something she had heard described as a 'pistol' that looked to be made of bronze or a similar substance that felt too smooth and too light weight to be the real thing. As she studied it closely she heard a voice she was hoping to hear again, Lancer's.

"Helsinki, I need to talk to you." She turned with a smile on her face still holding the pistol as Lancer came up with the head still on his neck. "Sorry about running off earlier." She shrugged before speaking.

"Oh no biggie, not natural for one loike yeself tu grow a head out a your neck." Lancer nodded as the head started to speak up.

"Oh he has stuff to tell you like *giggle* like like…"

"All thost thigns I said earlier were true, including the peeing my pants." Helsinki blinked in shock as he mind processed what she had just heard. "You see, this is the Naysaya; a curse put upon me by a student of mine that forces out all of my deepest insecurities into the open to be heard."

"And judged." The Naysaya spoke up with Lancer glaring at him. "It's just a job for me, nothing personal. Like for example…" Lancer cut off The Naysaya.

"I sleep in full bunny pajamas still, with the little feet." 'Bloody hell.' Helsinki thought to herself as a million thoughts raced through mind as she actually knew what the Naysaya was; and if she was correct… 'No, no way would he think that way.' Helsinki shook her head trying to clear it. Lancer misinterpreted that as something else. "No that's real, also my first name is Lily. My parents really wanted a girl and refused to name me otherwise." With a sigh he continued pushing out deep dark insecurities as a small audience began to gather that went unnoticed by the two of them.

"I went bald around age 26 and all the hair migrated to my back making it look like a gorilla's back."

"I'm scared of heights to the point where I get scared when I'm in an airplane."

"I love to write erotica even though I'm a virgin."

"I originally wanted to be a cop but I left the school after two days because I was a wimp."

"I sometimes dress in drag and I like how it looks awful."

"I alphabetize my clothing drawers."

"I've never even held a girl's hand romantically, let alone kissed one."

As his confessions went by Helsinki came to respect this guy far more than 99% of people she had ever met not just because of the fact he was boldly proclaiming his insecurities but the implications of them. As a shocking amount of time passed Lancer seemed to finally come to his final one bracing himself for something that she guessed was probably the biggest one of them all.

"My biggest one however is that I doubt myself constantly. I'm a man approaching my 46th year and here I think I underperformed in life because I was holding myself back. I wish I was more like you Helsinki, someone who took crass from no one and lived life to the fullest. You have experienced all that life has to offer and more which is why *sigh* I think I love you." 'So… I was right.' Helsinki thought to herself in shock as a blush overtook her face. "I want to be more than just friends with you and I was hoping to figure out if we could become that… but then this popped out and ruined any chances I had with you." For one of the few times in her life Helsinki felt a full punch of sympathy hit her gut as tears came to her eyes for this man. "So I'm sorry for drawing you into this. And that's everything, every last insecurity I have… unless if there is anything else?" He glared at the Naysaya who looked at him in shock before replying.

"Tha-That's everything. You got everything out." The audience nearby applauded at this clearly impressed with what Lancer had done.

As if of its own will Helsinki's hand came up cupping Lancer's chin making face her with everyone falling silent at this. He thumb idly stroked his cheek as she found herself for the very first time in her life at a complete loss for words. 'Wha-what do I even say to that?' She thought in awe as she looked into his light green eyes with her stormy grey ones. A flood of memories came back to Helsinki, repressed memories of finding boys and girls throughout her life with every single one eventually finding another one either after they left her or while they were still with her. Not a single one lasting more than a fortnight with her for various reasons be it her fault or theirs. After standing there for what felt like an eternity she spoke up losing her cockney accent.

"You… really think that way about me?" Lancer nodded with her hand still cupping his chin. "I'm… not just a fun one night stand to you?" At this everyone began murmuring amongst each other at the vulnerability in her voice. "You actually want to be with me?" Lancer nodded holding onto her hand with his own now smiling at her with tears in his eyes to match hers.

"Yes." That simple word made her break down and grabbed onto him sobbing slightly with Lancer so stunned he didn't even hug her back at first.

"Alright people show's over, move along." Star stepped up shooing people away with everyone groaning in protest as they left the two people be with Marco joining Star.

"Is this normal for her?" He gestured at Helsinki with Star shaking her head no.

"She never cries like that… never." They watched as Lancer slowly sat down holding Helsinki close as she stopped crying surprisingly quickly but not letting go of Lancer as she spoke.

"Sorry, just not so good experiences with men on my end. Or women for that matter as well." Lancer didn't even react to Helsinki saying she was bisexual as he gave her a tissue to wipe her eyes. "I just *blows nose* never thought I'd get a confession like that in my life." She handed it back to Lancer who threw it into the garbage. "I mean I thought I might at first meet someone the way Moon met Toffee eventually but… as time passed…" She sat there looking rather bashful as she stared at the ground. "… I guess I gave up. I never looked that hard to begin with and honestly I think that's why I never met anyone when I could snare them. I mean look at me, I'm an old dog, buried the bone long ago. Here I am nearly 40 yet I act like I'm 16. *sigh* At times I think should I just start… you know… acting my age?" she rubbed her arm softly with Lancer cupping her chin for a change looking into her eyes with a smile as he replied.

"My girl, never stop acting like yourself as it is the best person I've met in a long time." She smiled back at him before they pulled into another hug. "So does this mean…"

"Yes, I accept your confession and want to be yours Lily. Also I like that name; you might hate it but I like it." Lancer chuckled a little as Star gave off a squee in joy.

"You did it, you did it, you did IT!" Lancer chuckled as he pulled back.

"Yes, I guess I did. Wait, what happened to your cockney accent?" Helsinki blushed at his looking down before replying.

"I fake it just because it sounds cool." Lancer got a determined look on his face as he responded.

"Well so wat mate, you do you and bollocks with whatever those who're not your cobbers think." Marco and Star went slack jawed in shock as Lancer began speaking in an Australian accent of all things. "I myself can do a good impression of one down under and I'm no drongo mate." He beat his chest to push his point home with Helsinki doing a full on girly giggle, even hiding her mouth behind her hand, before replying in her cockney accent.

"Easy there, you're bound to make a rose like me lose er petals through trembles." The two laughed with Marco and Star staring at each other in shock with Helsinki now noticing them. "Wait, Sta and Marco? Ow'd you turn into a parent child combo?" Star and Marco looked at each other again with Star speaking up.

"Funny story actually… "

 **SN: One explanation later.**

"... so now we're stuck like this until tomorrow morning." Helsinki nodded for a second before turning towards Marco.

"You actually make a noice toddler; no doubt your kids will be jus as cute." She reached out pinching his cheek with Marco betting her hand away.

"Hey do you mind, I'd rather not be treated like a 4 year old despite looking like one. Regardless, what's going to happen to the Naysaya?" Everyone noticed it was still in fact attached to Lancer's neck with him speaking.

"That's a good point, are you going to just vanish or shrivel up and fall off." The Naysaya sighed looking down as it spoke up.

"Of course, once the curse is done everyone wants me gone, no consideration for what I'm forced to do by my very nature." Everyone looked back and forth awkwardly before Helsinki spoke up.

"Say, as long as he's quite, would it really be too much trouble ta keep im aroun jus fur today?" Naysaya perked up at that.

"Does this mean I can eat real food with my own mouth?" Lancer looked it awkwardly before responding.

"Well sure if that's what you want?" It giggled in glee as it replied.

"Then I want a turkey leg! They do sell those here don't they?" Everyone shrugged and nodded with the Naysaya giggling in glee and Star speaking up.

"So... where too first?"

 **WH: Folks, it's time once again for...**

 **Audience: Guest, reviews!**

 **AMU CHAN: Honestly I thought I was doign a good job keeping things balanced out. You see this is why I rely on people like you to catch these things, I'm too into it to really notice some things right in front of my face.**

 **The Book of Eli: The adorable meter has gone through the roof now, and now you know his insecurities. Please don't tease him, he's rather sensitive.**

 **Unknown: Thank you for reading through my story and commenting so much from chapter one. If you manage to get this far I thank you for sticking through till the end. You are breathtaking. ;)**


	90. Lil Marco and the Naysaya Pt 3

****Ok, I would just like** to apologize for this taking so long to get out to you lot. I procrastinated a bit and had to rewrite this damn thing 5 times because it didn't feel right. I even abandoned the original idea for this chapter because I realized halfway through that it was just stupid. No matter, it's here now and I am back on the eight ball… please let it be so. *sobs quietly in the corner.***

Star hefted up the mallet and swung it around in a way one would if they were chopping wood and brought it down on the paddle. The small bit shot up past the various levels including 'The Royal Fool', 'Washerwoman', 'Apple farmer', etc. and hit the bell at the top signaling she had the same strength as 'His Royal Majesty'. She smirked as she casually twirled the 10 pound mallet resting it on her shoulder as she looked at the applauding audience with Marco running out from the group shouting out to her.

"Mom's the greatest! Go mommy!" He went to hug her leg but she casually scooped him up with one arm and planted a kiss on his head as he sat on her forearm.

"Of course I am sweetie, why would I not be?" Marco giggled and hugged onto her shoulders as Star walked over to the reward stand with the vendor staring at her wide eyed. "Now which would you like my little man?" Star was surprised that she wasn't blushing as she talked to Marco like he was her son, 'But then again I have been doing it for several hours at this point.' Star thought to herself as Marco pointed to a dragon looking like Maleficent's from Sleeping Beauty. "Very well, the dragon my dear sir." The man nodded still shocked at her abilities and took down the dragon for them with Marco grabbing onto it. They turned and left the trial of strength with Star leaving the mallet behind as she spoke to Marco. "You're really getting into the 4 year old thing aren't you?" Marco nodded and replied with shining eyes.

"Everything just seems so much bigger and more grand and more… impressive and exciting. It's like today became the best day ever somehow." He looked around the fair with shining eyes with Star smiling at his eagerness. "Oh hey, hi guys!" Marco waved towards where Jackie and Tom of all people were located with the two of them not noticing Star and Marco. "Huh?" Marco blinked in confusion when they didn't notice them. "Wha- oh right we don't look like ourselves. *Ahem* Jackie, Tom, over here." The two looked up at their names blinking in confusion when they saw Star and Marco coming towards them with Tom speaking up.

"Ummm, do we know you by any… wait." He looked them both up and down carefully before his eyes went wide in recognition. "Star! Marco! What happened to you two?" As Jackie's eyes went wide with recognition Star subtly caught her gaze with a silent reaffirmation of their deal passing between the two before Star spoke up.

"Goofing up with magic… again; would rather not go into details." Tom and Jackie nodded in understanding. "Say what are you guys doing here?" Tom and Jackie chuckled with Jackie replying.

"We came to see the bands performing at the end of the day. Good chance to introduce Tom to Viking/Folk/Power Metal." Marco and blinked in confusion at this. "What, that music not your style?" Marco shook his head and replied.

"No that music is ok, but why did you say / between the types of music?" Jackie went to answer and stalled before falling into confused silence. Tom spoke up at this directed towards Star.

"So you two have been going around the fair like that all day?" Star and Marco nodded with Tom smiling. "Well I don't day this often but you two look so cute as a mother and child… wait." Tom's smile turned sly. "You wouldn't by chance be calling Star mommy would you?" Marco and Star looked at each other blushing slightly as Jackie spoke up.

"Of course he would have to, how else would they have let a four year old into the fair?" Tom blinked in confusion before nodding. "Say why would you ask that question it seems pretty straight forward?" Tom went to answer before he realized what he had been hinting at between Star and Marco with it being his turn to blush while Marco and Star smiled slyly at him. Jackie's giggling interrupted them however as she kissed his cheek. "You're so cute when you're flustered." Tom chuckled right back at her as he spoke.

"Ok, you got me." Tom looked back at Star and Marco. "Say um… this is gonna sound strange but…" He looked around nervously for a second. "… can I hold Marco?" Marco stared at him deadpan before replying.

"Seriously, this is what it has degenerated…"

"Of course you can." Marco and Tom both blinked in shock at Star's words as she held the toy and handed Marco to Tom while Jackie struggled to hold back her laughter. "Careful, he's quite a handful and is heavier then he looks." Marco began struggling as he was handed to Tom.

"Star seriously! I'm not a stuffed animal!" Star clucked her tongue at Marco before tweaking his nose.

"Now you listen to your mother young man and let the demon cuddle you." Tom held Marco with shining eyes while Marco pouted in his arms. Jackie, holding back laughter came up to Star's side and began talking to her.

"Ok, you did that because you just wanted to see Marco pout didn't you?" After a few seconds Star nodded slowly with Jackie couldn't hold back a few chuckles. "I can see why, Marco's so cute." The two watched Tom hold Marco with surprising interest while Marco continued to pout. "It's nice that you let him back into your life, Tom's a nice guy huh?" Star smiled softly and nodded looking rather happy. Jackie's eye caught something and she frowned slightly looking back up at Star. "Say you wouldn't have had people staring at you all day haven't you?" Star shrugged before replying.

"Yeah, and I know what you mean by that Jackie." Star gestured over to the group of men who were not so subtly checking out the 'hot momma'. "But honestly I don't mind too much." Jackie blinked in confusion as Star elaborated. "It doesn't do anyone any harm to just look. And if they go further and don't take no for an answer…" Star jerked her knee up in a manner that would make most men wince in sympathy. "I mean what's wrong with guys just checking out a pretty lady?" Jackie spoke up at that a bit concerned.

"Um, making you feel like a piece of meat whose appearance is your only value?" Star shrugged at that as she answered.

"Eh it doesn't bother me, all things considered when it comes to men this is actually a step forward in my regard. And that sounded really sad didn't it?" Star looked at Jackie who smiled and took her hand showing support.

"I understand where you're coming from, but fuck those assholes you're beautiful just the way you are." They shared a smile before a muffled oof came from Tom prompting them to look up and see Marco on Tom's shoulders holding onto his horns with a smile on his face.

"Come on Tom, let's go!" Marco's words accompanied him kicking him like one would kick a horse making Tom groan in protest as he replied.

"Seriously man, you are doing this on purpose aren't you?" Marco shrugged with Jackie and Star laughing at the two. After a few seconds of struggling to get Tom to run Helsinki's voice rang out.

"Easy there, ya don wanna break ya horsey." The quartet looked up at the voice to see Helsinki and Lancer, who was loaded with several prizes of sorts. Everyone waved at each other with smiles, except for Helsinki who had a cautious eye on Tom and Tom who had a nervous eye on her. "Onestly I'm a bit surprised ya lettin im do this Tom bein the prince o the Underworld an all. For that matter wha are ya doin ere?" Tom replied to that in as relaxed a tone he could muster given lil Marco was on his back.

"Oh Marco's a close friend of mine so it's no big deal. And I'm here at my girlfriend's suggestion to see more of what earth has to offer." He pointed towards Jackie who waved at Helsinki and Lancer with Helsinki relaxing somewhat as Tom got a surprised look on his face. "Whoa, what did you do to piss someone off enough to put a Naysaya on you?" At this everyone's attention was directed towards Lancer who was holding the prizes and feeding Naysaya some turkey leg.

"An experiment from some of my students, they will be paying for it eventually. But all things considered it's not so bad." Naysaya moaned in pleasure as he continued to eat turkey with Tom again speaking up.

"Well it seems like you made it to the end of the curse. So who's the lucky lady… or dude I don't like to presume." Lancer gestured as best he could to Helsinki who nodded at Tom making him look back and forth between them in shock. "You went for mad steam cap Helsinki?" Jackie, Marco, and Lancer blinked in confusion at that with Star clarifying.

"That's a nickname my Aunt got for her explosive experiments and hair brained schemes in Mewni." Helsinki shrugged and put her hands on her hips as she replied with a smirk.

"Oh they're jus jealous a me, pay no heed." Lancer chuckled before finally replying to Tom.

"Well yes, yes I did; and I got her." He leaned over kissing Helsinki's cheek with Helsinki chuckling as she replied.

"Easy there ya charmer or I moight hafta pull ya to the side to dose this fire inside o me." At those words Lancer blushed, Jackie giggled, Marco gagged (like a 4 year old would), Tom looked neutral, and Star stared at Helsinki deadpan as she spoke up.

"Really, you had to go there?" Helsinki gave a 'sorry, not sorry' shrug as Tom spoke up again.

"Regardless, good luck surviving her man." Lancer shrugged as he replied.

"After surviving Casper high, there's not much that can even land a solid hit on me." Helsinki raised her eyebrow at that before speaking.

"Is that a challenge?" As if to answer her an explosion occurred in the distance with some smoke going up into the sky. "Well…" Lancer spoke up at this with an almost tired and exasperated voice.

"Well that doesn't sound good; we should do something about it right?" Star replied with the same tone of voice.

"Yeah, and figure out what *cough* Janna and Ferguson *cough* did that." Jackie looked back and forth between them a second before commenting.

"Oh come on you guys blame them for…" Ferguson and Janna came into view from the explosion area with slightly scorched faces and running like hell was behind them with the two yelling at each other.

F: "That was supposed to go into the sky."

J: "You were supposed to stick it in the ground."

F: "It was in the ground."

J: "Outside."

F: "This was your idea!"

"… everything." Jackie finished up in shock as Star and Lancer nodded to each other with Star shooting a 'Taffy fishing rod' and reeled in the duo with Lancer speaking.

"Well I have no idea what you two did but I get the feeling you are going to tell us all about it sooner rather than later." The two kids looked at each other in annoyance and spoke in synchronization.

"Damn it."

Star and Lancer began dragging the two back towards the explosion with Jackie shaking her head as she followed them. As Tom began following them however he was suddenly yanked back between two tents with Marco falling over his head onto the ground. As Tom got his bearings he saw a hand crossbow ( **pistol-like crossbow** ) pointed in his face by a suspicious looking Helsinki who pinned him to the tent and began speaking with venom in her voice.

"What's ya angle demon?" Tom stood in silence for several seconds before nervously gulping. "I know demons ave a thing about nevah lettin go of their 'property' and ya jus given up on Star loike that is not in character. So what's ya angle demon?" As Tom struggled to find an answer Marco found them and spoke up.

"No angle he really is a changed guy Helsinki." The two looked at Marco, Tom with hope and Helsinki with suspicion. "Tom has actually come a long way and Star has forgiven him for what he did. And before you say anything yes I know exactly what happened between the two and yes it was bad but Tom has actually improved for the better. And this is coming from a guy Tom nearly killed at one point but is still his best friend." Helsinki looked back and forth between the two as if trying to comprehend what Marco had just said before speaking.

"And ow do you know this ain't a trick jus to get Star for imself?" Tom spoke up at this.

"Because keeping Star as property wasn't a good way to help protect her, and besides Star belongs to Marco not me." Helsinki turned about to threaten Tom some more before pausing in confusion. "I couldn't steal Star from my best friend even if I didn't have Jackie. I mean Star and I had some good times together but even at our best wasn't as good as what those two have now; hell even compared to what Jackie and I have." The gears turned in her head for a minute or two until Marco came up to her grabbing onto her clothes and speaking up.

"Come on, I know Tom did some bad things but what's the point of forgiveness existing if people can't redeem themselves." Helsinki stood there awhile longer just looking between the two before slowly letting Tom down and putting the crossbow away with a sigh before speaking.

"Well… seems I ave a lot to catch up on." She nodded to Tom. "Ok, I'll accept ya peace offering fur now." Tom gave a sigh in relief as she turned towards Marco with a smile on her face. "So, ya actually are wit my niece eh?" She rubbed Marco's head affectionately. "Well it's about time ya two got together."

As the atmosphere relaxed the trio heard a muffled 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!' shouted from Lancer with muffled running sounds coming in their direction. The trio stepped out from their hidey hole to see Star, Lancer, Jackie, Ferguson, and Janna running from an angry mob of Scotsmen and Vikings who were wielding various medieval weaponry. The trio looked at each other in shock with Marco speaking up.

"Well, that escalated quickly." Tom sighed and stepped forward brining his hand up.

"Guess I have to throw my weight around." His eyes turned a brilliant white and he began demonic chanting.

The ground split open bin front of the assorted barbarians with flaming chains coming out and providing a barrier to keep them from getting any closer. As he did so Star cut open a portal with the scissors with Lancer yelling at everyone.

"Time to leave now; these guys aren't accepting apologies anytime soon." Helsinki pouted as she stepped for the portal as she replied.

"Aw, ya ad all the fun without me. Ya gonna ave to make up for it now." She smiled pulling Lancer in alongside her with Janna and Ferguson going through next. Jackie shook her head in exasperation as she spoke up.

"I mean they did set off an explosion but seriously what is wrong with some of these people?!" She stepped through the portal with Star picking up Marco and beckoning for Tom to go through. As he went through Marco spoke up to Star.

"Wait, what about the others?" Star shrugged as she stepped through with the chains disappearing behind them and the ground closing up.

"Eh, they're in no immediate harm." She closed up the portal behind her with the assorted barbarians sweeping the area looking for any sign of where they had gotten off to.

As the group got their bearings after tumbling through the portal they saw they were where the group had met up before coming to the fair. Janna and Ferguson looked at each other with 1,000 yard stares with Janna speaking up.

"That was… intense even for us." Ferguson nodded as he replied.

"I mean that firework was just a test but when it hit all the others meant for the bands…" Everyone double took in shock at those words as Janna continued sentence.

"… all hell broke loose. Well guess they are down fireworks, the band stage, and the washer wench's area." Ferguson nodded as he added on.

"Yeah… wanna do that again sometime?" Janna smirked as she kissed his cheek.

"You know it. Perhaps we could bring Janjak along to…" They both stopped cold when Lancer grabbed their ears pulling them up hard as he spoke with a smirk.

"Oh I highly doubt you're going to do anything like this anytime soon once your parents find out about this." He began dragging them along as they looked at Helsinki for help with her speaking up to Lancer.

"Oh come on they were jus havin fun… wait was anyone in danger aside from yourselves?" They both shook their heads no as best they could with Helsinki smiling. "See, no real arm." Lancer sighed and turned to her as they began sparring over whether the kids should be punished or not. As they did so Tom spoke to Jackie with a sigh.

"Well, guess the band performances are off tonight. Wanna go get corn smoothies and hang at the skate park?" Jackie nodded taking his hand as she replied.

"Anytime man, although I do have to ask what is a corn smoothie?" As they walked off Star and Marco looked at each other with Marco speaking up first.

"Should we go get everyone else?" Star nodded and wordlessly cut a portal and picked up Marco holding him with the stuffed dragon as she moved through.

* * *

"Well… that was a day?" Marco was slumped over on Star's back holding onto his dragon as they made their way home in the early evening light.

Despite the trail of destruction and the bands not being able to perform everything else about the day had gone rather well. Janna and Ferguson weren't able to come back obviously but the rest of the group had been able to enjoy their day, even Oskar had enjoyed it despite the fact that he didn't get to play. Alfonzo had wound up accidentally participating in a joust parody and won it gaining the title of 'The Least Least Competent' and had won a coupon to 'The Green wood weaponry' which made wooden weapon replicas. Starfan13 had wound up joining in a 'princess pageant', Star couldn't hold back her laughter throughout it, and won 2nd place which got her a tiara that was eerily like Star's back on Mewni. Lancer had for one reason or another let Janna and Ferguson go thanks to Helsinki and, considering how he was smiling like an idiot and blushed whenever he looked at Helsinki, Star wasn't sure she wanted to know how she had done it. And now that it was all done everyone had gone their separate ways with everyone saying their own goodbyes to Marco; some of them tear filled as they would likely never see lil Marco again which infuriated Marco to no end. But now as Star was carrying him home with him repressing a yawn she had to steal a look over her shoulder to admire how cute he was snuggled up against her. She smiled at his young face with the cute little mole on his cheek and his black fluffy hair all messed up from the long day. As she stared at him he looked up with his chocolate brown eyes with a content if slightly sleepy look to them as he spoke up.

"Um Star, we passed by the house." Star stopped realizing she was nearly at the next house having overshot theirs.

"Oh… Thank you. " Star turned around and walked back. "You know you need to stop looking so cute, it's a might bit distracting." Marco looked at her annoyed with a small smirk slowly splitting his face.

"I can't help it, I was born this way." Star chuckled as she moved up to the door.

"Yeah I suppose so." She put Marco down on the ground with him refusing to let go of the dragon. "Now let's go in and get some second dinner, mama's still hungry." Marco chuckled as they stepped in to see Angie and Raphael dancing to some slow Spanish music in the living room. "Oh hey Mr. and Mrs. Diaz." The parents stopped and turned to see Star and Marco step in with both of them looking confused. "What?" Raphael was the first to speak up.

"Um, who are you and why did you bring your son here?" Angie glanced at Marco and her eyes went wide as she gave a girly squeal before speaking.

"Oh my God Raphy look!" She turned his head to look at Marco. "It's Marco when he was 4 years and 5 months old! My little man has turned into my little boy again!" She moved over and picked Marco up squeezing him tight with Marco gasping for breath.

"Choking, not breathing." Marco whispered out with Star laughing at this and Raphael nodding in understanding.

"Oh of course, didn't recognize him for a minute there. It has been ten years after all." At this Angie turned towards Raphael with a frown on her face as she spoke up.

"You didn't recognize your own son even after you had seen him like this before!? Shame on you old man!" Raphael looked down a bit saddened as Angie's face softened. "Oh come here you and join the family hug." Raphael joined in with Angie turning towards Star. "You too sweetie." Star giggled and ran over joining the hug with Marco speaking up.

"Seriously. Having. Trouble. Breathing." Angie replied to this.

"Oh don't be such a big baby… oh wait you are one again." She shooed off Raphael and Star before carrying him over to the couch and sitting down with him on her lap. "So my little Marco, how was the day? Did you have a lot of fun? Slay any dragons my little Caballero?" Marco sighed before speaking.

"Mom I only look 4 ½, I'm still 14 2/3 and will be that way tomorrow." Angie sniffed as a tear came to her eye.

"Of course of course… I just missed having a little child." Marco huffed and rolled his eyes with Angie getting a mischievous glint in hers. "Oh is someone grumpy? I know the medicine you need…" At this Marco began to panic and tried to run but Angie gripped onto him. "… TICKLE MEDICATION!" She then proceeded to tickle Marco relentlessly with Marco laughing uncontrollably at this.

"No mom *HAHAHA* stop *heeheheheeee* it's not *hahahehehehaha* good for *hehehehahahahaha* STAR HELP ME!" Star however couldn't help him as she was too caught up in laughing herself to intervene while Raphael watched with a happy glint in his eyes.

"Oh this brings back so many warm memories. Oh I know what else we can do while he is still a kid." He ran upstairs quickly and came back down in less than two minutes with Angie wrapping up her tickling session. "So did the medication work." Angie chuckled as she replied.

"I would saw so Raphy." At seeing what he had in his hands her smile somehow grew even larger. "Oh you brought that thing down; I knew keeping it in an easily accessible place was a stroke of genius." She turned to a still chuckling and sobbing Marco as she took the item and handed it to Marco. "Oh Marco, sorry I went overboard on the medication, how about an old friend to make it up to you." Marco looked up and double took in shock at what he saw.

"Wait is that…" The adults nodded with Star cooing at how cute Marco looked holding onto a stuffed animal that looked like a turtle. "… Verrocchio? I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually missed you." He held the stuffed animal close before he began outright talking to it. "Oh we need to make up for lost time. I have a new friend for you to meet, Mal." He showed the turtle to the stuffed dragon. "I know you two will get along just fine… and why am I talking to these things they are stuffed animals?" Everyone chuckled as Marco shook his head in confusion. "Mommy I don't think I'm ok in the head… again."

"*chuckling* Oh don't worry about that my little…" Star and Angie both stopped when they realized they had answered Marco at the same time.

Raphael and Marco grew nervous as Angie and Star looked at each other like one would in a western shoot out while kneeling down to pick up Marco. After a few tense seconds of this Raphael finally spoke up nervously.

"Well she's going to be a good parent to our grandkids later on isn't she?"

"DAAAAD!" Marco exaggerated his scream just a little bit as tried to help alleviate the tension. After a few seconds both the women relaxed with Star stepping back.

"Sorry Mrs. Diaz, he's just had to call me that all day as they won't let young kids in without their parents." Angie nodded and picked Marco up holding him and the stuffed animals close as she replied.

"It's ok. I know he's going to call you mommy one day…" Marco and Star shuddered at that a little. "… but I just want to be his mommy for a little while longer." As she kissed his forehead Raphael spoke up.

"Um you are going to get the chance to be one again remember?" Star and Marco both froze looking at a now shocked Raphael. "Did I just say that out loud?" Angie nodded and chuckled as she replied.

"Well we were going to tell them this evening. Marco Star, we have big news." She handed Marco to Star and pressed the clothes to her body in such a way that it revealed a small bump in her abdomen. "Marco's getting a sibling." Star squealed slightly with glee as Marco blinked unable to comprehend this.

"Wai- sibling. I'm gonna be a big brother!? How did this happen?!" Angie and Raphael chuckled with Raphael speaking up.

"Well when a man and woman feel a powerful compulsion…" Angie shushed him.

"No no he's too young for that right now, wait until… whatever it was that has happened to him wears off for that." Raphael nodded as Marco spoke to himself.

"I'm gonna be a big brother." Star giggled booping his nose.

"Oh you are so cute. *giggle* Oh a Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, no need to worry about Marco he will be back to normal by tomorrow morning." The two nodded with Angie letting out a small sigh.

"Ok, I mean the next one will only be another 4-5 months or so…" Star's face turned thoughtful and then mischievous as she turned to Marco.

"Well it does no harm to turn him this young…"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Marco screamed as the trio laughed.

* * *

Helsinki walked through the portal back home feeling light on her feet after her 'date' with Lancer. 'Kind of hard to count it as one as we started half-way through the day. But I found myself a good man for the future… just need to not mess this up.' She thought to herself in glee as she heard her mirror ring.

"Hmmm, wot's tha?" She picked it up revealing Moon was calling. "Ello?" Moon appeared on the screen flustered and nervous as she spoke up.

"Helsinki, I need you down in the main council chambers now! This is a code 'Ice and Steam' meeting!"

Moon hadn't even finished her sentence when Helsinki cut a portal open and rushed through into the chamber to see Buff Frog, Heckapoo, Omnitraxus Prime, Rhombulus, Moon, Toffee, Butler, Willow, Lekmet, Moon's three shadow knights, Lily Forest, Lord Trogdor Avarius, and three other figures were already there. One was a female humanoid Monster with green skin, bat wings, a pair of spiraling horns, purple streaked greying black hair, with three eyes. The second was a man who seemed slightly younger then Moon who was wearing a big over cloak so you couldn't see any clear features. And the third was an elderly woman who was slightly pudgy and looked to be wearing a washerwoman's clothing of all things. Helsinki took her place alongside Moon's closest advisors and friends as Moon began speaking.

"Everyone is here then. Excellent, well not so excellent as the news has gotten rather grim over the last few weeks. Oliver?" Moon nodded to the cloaked man known as Spymaster Oliver Twist as he began giving his report.

"Well over the last few months since Ludo fixed the Senate so they can do their job without allowing people to hurt others we have seen a rise in losses for the Forest Barbarians. Safe houses were falling left and right at a rate unmatched for more than a decade and the rebels were beginning to betray each other in hopes of getting a second chance. That chance being given being a smart move." He nodded to Toffee who nodded in acknowledgment. "But then a bit over a month ago or so, not exactly sure when it started, the findings just dropped off and over time no rebels were found. At first we thought that with these changes and the loss of Mavis with the incident involving Lord Mildrew this meant that they had finally well and truly given up. Until attacks suddenly started and we found this." He put a cast of a footprint up on the table with everyone raising an eyebrow in suspicion with Lily speaking up.

"Um, that's a drakes footprint; Zippleback to be specific." Oliver nodded as he continued.

"In a village raided by the forest barbarians just the night before we found this print." Everyone looked back and forth in concern with Rhombulus speaking up.

"Wait, are you saying that the drakes are helping out the Forest Barbarians because you wouldn't make a big deal out of this if that wasn't your suspicion?" Oliver nodded with a collective gasp in the room followed by Heckapoo speaking up.

"Well I'm speechless. I keep on forgetting how smart you are Rhombulus?" Rhombulus glared at her before replying.

"Not dignifying that." Trogdor spoke up at this.

"Well what other input do we have aside from this? I mean just a potential correlation of them working with drakes is just the tip of the iceberg right now honestly." At this the Washerwoman nodded as she added her input.

"Well word of the commoners is that a new leader has come to the Forest Barbarians and is using some sort of ancient item or entity to unify and organize them giving them an actual chance. Of course these are but the faintest of rumors and are commonly dismissed but with this info…" She let the words lie with Moon speaking up.

"Indeed Margaret. Do you three have anything to offer?" She turned to the Shadow knights who shook their heads hesitantly with one of them speaking.

"Well we have the information that all of the remaining shadows opposed to you have just suddenly disappeared; not run or died just disappeared. And what's more at times when going through the kingdom searching for threats it seems like our vision is… warped. Subtly enough that you wouldn't notice it until you have experienced it enough times." Everyone nodded at that with Toffee speaking up.

"Once is an occurrence, twice is a coincidence, three times is enemy action. And we have 7 so far; Rumors of a new leader, the Shadows being blocked, raids with drakes, The Forest Barbarians growing more competent, The flux with the magic, the raid by Lord Mildrew, and the return of Eclipsa after more than 300 years. Someone is making a move against Mewni and we have next to no information about what is even going on." Everyone looked at each other worriedly with the Monster woman speaking up in a scots accent.

"Well then, why don'cha come up with an idea then?" Heckapoo chuckled as she grabbed the figures hand in a sign of affection.

"Hey Lucy, when it comes to Toffee he probably already had one before we got here." Everyone chuckled with Toffee joining in before getting serious.

"In all seriousness though we have too little information. Our first course of action is figure out what is going on with the Forest Barbarians and figure out if they are getting outside help. Now…" Toffee pulled a projector screen out of the ceiling with a plan being projected onto it. "… here is the…"

"Wait you just have that at random to pull out at any time?" Everyone turned towards Heckapoo with Lucy answering.

"Are ya really that surprised dear?" Heckapoo shrugged as Toffee nodded and got started.

"So here is the plan..."

 **WH: Well well well the plot thickens. As Star and Marco experience their summer their enemies just keep on growing stronger with the dark approaching. Next time brace yourselves for cuteness as it is 'Starsitting time'!**

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 **...**

 **AND I WILL GET THE CHAPTERS OUT SOONER I SWEAR IT!**


	91. Star-sitting pt 1

**WH: *Going through a massive pile of 'how to care for baby books* Ok, ideas for an opening, ideas for an opening, ideas for an... oh you people are already here; damnit. *sets book down* Sorry Janna wasn't letting herself be turned into a baby so I couldn't ome up with an idea. Enjoy the episode folks.**

 **SN: Hippie? *Walks in with a baby Janna who was looking around and gurgling to herself.* Explain.**

 **WH:... I honestly have no idea how that happened this time.**

 **Fairy Tail - FAIRY TAIL 2016 Main Theme ( watch?v=pPyKL6UZEak)**

Anime fighting music begins plays in the background as Star, wearing the armor from C.O.D.E., stares down Marco who is also wearing armor from said gaming system. Marco draws his sword, this time a No Dachi in an almost peaceful fashion with a calm look on his face while Star extends her wolverine claws coating them in pink magic with a feral smirk on her face as her eyes turn a predatory cat slit yellow. After staring each other down for a few seconds in fighting stances Star gave out a raptor like shriek before charging forward on all fours straight at Marco with Marco bracing for impact. At the last second however Star does a leap skywards and rains down a hail of pink magical bolts of energy making dust billow up from the sheer force of her attacks down on Marco. Star then came down swinging both her claws in outward arcs that pushed the dust cloud back clearing her view… only to see Marco wasn't there. She looked around in confusion before realizing her mistake in making the dust cloud billow up and ducked just barely avoiding Marco's No Dachi as he swung at her in kind. Doing a serious of flips and tumbles Star comes up and coats her claws with magic again using the enhanced weapons to block Marco's swings. They clashed like this for about a minute neither gaining the advantage over the other until Star locks Marco's sword between her claws. Star tried to shove him down with her superior strength but Marco reacted quickly enough to use Star's claws as leverage to heft himself up and kick her in the gut knocking the wind out of her. He then used his sword to help heave Star over his shoulder throwing her to the ground pining her down. As he went to finish her off however Star tripped him with her tail and spun around so she was on all fours, leaping up on him and pining him down while knocking his sword to the side. As she grinned carnivorously at him going in to finish him off with a bite a powerful roar came from nearby prompting the two to look; Marco with relief and Star with shock as a rhino sized Nacho came charging into the fight. With a swipe of his paw he forced Star to back down as Marco leapt up onto his feet before assuming his karate fighting pose. Star pouted slightly before smiling and snapping her fingers summoning cloudy in a puff of smoke with cloudy shooting off a few lightning bolts before Star spoke.

"Voi Marco, tämä taistelu oli ohi ennen kuin se alkoi. (Oh Marco, this battle was over before it started.)" Marco smirked and leapt onto Nacho's back as he replied.

"De hecho Estrella, deberías rendirte mientras todavía tienes la oportunidad. (Indeed Star, you should surrender while you still have the chance.)" Star's smile did not fall as she leapt onto Cloudy's back.

"Kysymällä prinsessalta alistumista sinulle, kuinka rento ritari." (Asking a princess to submit to you, how uncouth for a knight.)" Chucking came from outside of their fighting arena as the real Star spoke down to her mouse sized equivalent.

 **(end music)**

"Oh you go girl, take no crass from that knight." She pushed her finger in with the game Star fist bumping it.

As it turned out Marco and Star were playing a type of fighting game with Marco and Star playing smaller versions of themselves in Star's room using a type of console controller. As the two Stars fist bumped the in game Marco spoke up.

"Si uno trae un arma, se espera que lo use. (If one brings a weapon they should be expected to use it.)" The full sized Marco nodded giving him a thumb up as he spoke up.

"He does have a point; we are honorable warriors not meek ones." Full sized Star got a sly look on her face as she replied to him.

"So rubbing my tail to distract me last fight was the honorable thing to do." Marco blushed slightly with the in game Star going 'ohhhhhh' while the in game Marco commented.

"No es su culpa que seas una estrella tan fácilmente distraída. (It is not his fault you are so easily distracted Star.)" As the real Marco went to reply a portal was suddenly cut into Star's room with everyone going silent. As they watched Squire Higgs came walking into the room with a formal and professional look on her face.

"Squire Higgs?" Star spoke in confusion.

"Higgs?" Marco spoke with as much caution as confusion in his voice.

Higgs nodded at the two stepping to the side as Eclipsa walked through the portal wearing some sort of iron collar on her and pushing a baby carriage with Marco and Star speaking in unison.

"Eclipsa?" Eclipsa had a smile on her face as she pulled the top back to reveal that there were several tadpole babies in it. Marco and Star stared at this complete image for a second before Marco and Star both got big eyes and spoke in unison.

"Babies." They shoved the game to the side with it hitting the far wall and all of the game avatars being knocked about.

As the characters regained their senses the real Nacho came up to the game looking down at them in confusion before bending down and sniffing them. Then Nacho got a really big smile and licked his lips while staring at the little magical figures. Game Star and Marco looked at each other and nodded in a silent agreement and both dove for cover as Nacho leapt at them. As the two ran a fighting retreat with Nacho Star and Marco cooed over the babies with Eclipsa speaking up.

"Now you are probably wondering why we are here right now? Well Buff Frog is busy with work and the nanny was unable to come in today. Normally your family's head butler, still not sure why he doesn't have a name, would look after them but instead decided Marco could look after them as he heard Marco had baby-sitting experience." Marco looked up nodding his head as he replied.

"Of course I do, families love it when I take care of their kids. But why are you two here?" Higgs, repressing a chuckle and a smirk at Marco, spoke up at that.

"Well Sir Lavabo decided that since I am to be knight of the household and wash that I should have experience taking care of younglings; why I don't know. But I am also here to oversee Eclipsa and give a report of her behavior to the king and queen." At this Star and Marco both looked at Eclipsa in confusion with Eclipsa giggling a little before answering.

"That little stunt I pulled at your dance night did not go unnoticed so to speak. Everyone is understandably cautious with me but Moon is eager to see whether I am as good as I actually am…" Higgs rudely interrupted her.

"Claim to be." Eclipsa and Higgs stared at each other for a second before Eclipsa continued.

"… claim to be so she decided to set me on a type of probation if you will." She tapped on the collar around her neck. "This will detect how much magic I use and give a report of its type to the magical high commission which, combined with squire Higgs report, will let them know whether or not they can focus on more important things or not." Marco and Star looked at each other in confusion with Star speaking up.

"But why would my mom and dad be ok with sending a potential criminal to be with me and the babies with only Marco and Higgs to supervise?" Higgs shrugged at that as she replied.

"No idea but it's not my place to question my superiors' orders; I do what I'm told to do and that's that." Eclipsa shrugged as she replied as well.

"No idea either but I wanted to see you two again and help take care of the cute babies so I didn't say anything." Marco and Star looked at each other and shrugged as well with another voice ringing out.

"Oh hey ish new guests." Everyone turned with Higgs a bit freaked out seeing Agateor speaking to them. "Who be tha crew? You look familiar though." Eclipsa giggled as she waved.

"Hello Jushtin's wand I am the former Queen Eclipsa of Mewni." Eclipsa did a curtsey with Agateor chuckling.

"Oh I shee, another Butterfly. An one with a good tashte in fashion." He nodded, somehow, at Eclipsa who did a little twirl for the heck of it. "Tha names Agateor now, I hab a name!" he shook back and forth in glee with Higgs turning towards Marco.

"Uhhhh…"

"Don't ask how he got here, I'm not entirely sure myself and I saw him arrive." Higgs lowered her arm with a 'hmmm.' "Say is there by any chance a guide book to take care of the babies as I have no experience with Frog men." Higgs straightened up at this and pulled out a binder marked Buff Baby Book before speaking.

"Let's get everyone to an appropriate place; no offense but I'm not comfortable with making myself at home in the royal princess's private quarters." Marco blinked in confusion before remembering that this was a person who was supposed to serve Star one day and looked up at her as a superior not as a friend.

"Right, let's get down to the living room and get start… Eclipsa what are you doing?" Marco, Higgs, Star (holding the babies), and Agateor all looked at Eclipsa who was sneaking some of Star's snacks with her mouth full.

"Um nothing." Star's eyes narrowed and went yellow as she spoke up.

"Those. Are. My. Snacks." Eclipsa put them down at the worried behest of Marco with Star going back to normal when all the snacks were back. "Alright, let's get started with these globs of joy." Star skipped down the stairs with Eclipsa and Higgs looking at Marco worried.

"Never take food from Star; I saw her take literal bites out of someone who destroyed her breakfast once." Higgs and Eclipsa both shivered as they followed Marco downstairs.

* * *

Down in the living room Star and Eclipsa were cooing over the babies while Higgs watched the group with a relaxed but keen eye. Marco was going through the book noting down details that most people would just skip over while Nacho chased the game avatars through the kitchen playing out like a Tom and Jerry sketch. After a few minutes of silence Eclipsa spoke up.

"Oh cute little tadpoles, so full of hopes and dreams." She picked one up rubbing it against her face.

"Um would yous prefer a baby over me?" Eclipsa blinked in confusion as she had actually picked up Agateor by accident.

"Oh sorry." She put him down with Star blinking in shock at a sudden realization.

"Wait… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5/6, 7… there are only 6 babies with two being one. Uncle Buff had 14 including the double baby when I first met them." Higgs replied to this in a somewhat detached manner.

"Well they were the weakest of the tadpole group so even with the proper care many did not make it through. Commander Bulgolyubov was saddened but he explained it was just a natural part of life." Star blinked and looked down somewhat saddened as she replied.

"Oh, ok." Eclipsa smiled at Star reassuringly and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry dear, after the first two months the tadpoles are practically assured of surviving to adulthood if someone does not violently kill them." Star brightened up a little bit shaking off the air as she replied.

"Yeah, can't let that weigh me down." She turned towards Marco. "So what does the book say safe kid?" Eclipsa and Higgs both began laughing at this as Marco looked at Star deadpan.

"Seriously, I'm not a safe kid I'm a misunderstood fearsome and noble knight!" Eclipsa spoke at that still chuckling.

"Oh sure right, why would you be so defensive about it?" Marco groaned and face palmed. "So what does the book say anyways; what adventures are we taking the children on?" Marco looked up from his face palm.

"A nap." The girls and Agateor looked at Marco confused as he read from the binder with a Russian accent. "At hours of 11:00, 14:00, and 17:00 the babies must be put down for nappy time rest." Higgs spoke up at this.

"First off why the accent and second is that really what's written in the book exactly, 'nappy time rest'?" Marco nodded as he replied.

"Yes to the latter and because it makes sense for the former. Now I'm going to read off how they are supposed to be positioned so listen carefully." Star nodded and got into position to turn around the tadpoles. "Alexi likes to sleeps on his front, Anastasia sleeps on her left side, Demetri and Boris (the double one) on their right sides, Leo and Ireena prefer their backs, and little Katrina must be held to sleep." Marco's voice slowed on the last one as Star picked up Katrina cuddling her close speaking up.

"Aw my little gelatinous snowflake don't you worry, auntie Star is gonna take good care of you." She kissed her head as Katrina fell asleep in Star's arms. Higgs blinked in confusion at all this speaking up.

"Wait, they just fell asleep like that." She snapped her fingers to accentuate her point. "Babies take like hours to fall asleep at times given how my mom went on about it." Marco shook his head no as he replied.

"Most babies that age fall asleep in a matter of minutes though if the baby is crying and you're trying to calm it down it can feel that way." He shuddered at an unpleasant memory as he got up and walked to the kitchen. "I'm gonna go prepare their lunches and don't do anything to wake them up. Star, that means no boops." Star groaned in disappointment as Marco disappeared into the kitchen.

"But they're so cute." She pouted as she looked at the sleeping babies and sighed. "Well ok…" Eclipsa spoke up quickly.

"So how have you and your boyfriend been doing?" Higgs and Star both looked at Eclipsa in shock, albeit for different reasons.

"You think those two are courting?"

"How did you find out?" Higgs and Star both looked at each other in shock with Higgs continuing.

"So wait, he is courting you? A commoner is courting the princess herself?" Star looked around nervously as Eclipsa watched Star curiously. Star inhaled and exhaled before answering.

"Officially we are not for political reasons; do you know how many nobles would be pissed if they found out Marco was dating me?" Star pouted at this holding Katrina close. "Mom and dad need to prepare him so he can prove to the kingdom that he deserves to stand with me for political mumbo jumbo crap reasons and it's so unfair and ridiculous that he has too." A long silence stretched out for a few seconds before Star felt a hand on each shoulder looking up to see a smiling Eclipsa and a somewhat awkward looking Higgs trying to help her. Eclipsa spoke up first.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much dear because if your father can do it Marco can do it." She removed her hand giving Star a thumbs up with Higgs speaking up next.

"I don't pretend to know much about the political workings of the kingdom. But I do know this, Marco has already earned the respect of his fellow knights and myself after showing off his skills, drive, endurance, and chivalry during the Red Wulf's day hunt. If some of the nobles by chance don't like him he will remain safe, you have my word." Star looked up at the two but mostly at Higgs replying slowly.

"You mean that?" Higgs nodded and went to pull back but Star pulled Higgs into a hug that stunned her. "That means a lot more then you realize." Higgs looked back and forth in awkward confusion as Eclipsa giggled in the background. "Oh sorry…" Star pulled back from Higgs straightening herself. "… I can get a little grabby at times." Higgs nodded as Star's eyes went wide. "Wait, where did I put Katrina?"

"Boop."

The two looked over to see Eclipsa had just booped Katrina who was now sitting in her hand making her wake up. Immediately Katrina started croaking with her body inflating to three times its ordinary size with every croak. Immediately all of the other tadpoles began croaking which made them bounce around the table falling off in parts and knocking down Agateor with an 'ows'. To throw even more chaos into the mixture the Laser puppies decided to show themselves and began playing with the croaking tadpoles. Higgs and Star stared at this chaos for a second before turning towards Eclipsa with glares on their faces making Eclipsa smile and chuckle nervously as she wrung her hands. Naturally the chaos got Marco's attention who came in from the kitchen holding at arm's length a tray of baby bottles holding some sort of green goo.

"What happened?" Star and Higgs pointed to Eclipsa who answered with her face cast to the ground in shame.

"I booped Marco, I booped so hard." He groaned slightly as he handed to tray off to Eclipsa, who gave an 'ick' in disgust at the food, before speaking up.

"Alright then, hold this for a second while you two gather up the tadpoles and keep the puppies away." Marco opened the book as Star cast a levitato spell on the tadpoles with Higgs shooing away the puppies as best she could getting several laser shots. "*Ahem* To stop croaking from mid-day nappy time rest feed babies lunch. Well I just finished that so no problem at all. Everyone grab a baby and a bottle." They began sticking the bottles into the babies making them feed getting a little too over eager at one point with Agateor.

"Um, Is no baby. I don'ts even need food." Star muttered an apology as Marco's keen eye caught something unusual speaking up.

"Um hold on a second, the food was green when I brought it in from the kitchen. So why is it pink?" Star and Higgs both looked in confusion at the pink fluid filling the tadpoles up with Marco getting a realization. "Eclipsa what did you do?" The trio turned towards Eclipsa who looked a cross between being nervous and offended as she replied.

"What I didn't do much. All I did was replaced their yucky food with cake." Her hand glowed a purplish color briefly. "I mean I can't use much magic but I can give them one good lunch." Marco groaned as he spoke.

"Eclipsa you can't-"

"You can't just give babies cake and divert from commander Bulgolyubov's instructions!" Star and Marco looked at Higg's a bit shocked as she cut Marco off. "Do you know what could happen if you divert from what he does for his children?!" What surprised Marco and Star the most it seemed was the fact that Eclipsa had diverted from the binder upset Higgs more than giving the babies unhealthy food. Eclipsa, shook off her nervousness as she replied more offended than anything else.

"Oh come on everyone could do with some sweets." She picked up Katrina rubbing her cheek. "Especially this little swee…" Eclipsa was cut off when Katrina spit-up pink cake in her face and went flying across the room leaving a trail of pink behind her. "…" The other babies began spitting-up and were sent flying across the room. "…" Higgs, Marco and Star stared at Eclipsa who had a 1,000 yard stare on her face. "I have made a terrible mistake… again." Marco face palmed taking command again.

"Alright gather up the babies, let me just…" Marco reached for the binder but it was blown aside by another baby shooting through the air. "Arg, someone get that binder as well."

"On it!" Higgs leapt for the binder doing a duck and roll to dodge flying puking babies and laser puppies who had begun chasing the babies. "Got it." Higgs turned and went to toss it Marco but he had his hands full trying to catch one of the babies.

"Excellent, what does it say to do about this." Higgs froze at his words and looked at the binder not opening it. "Um Higgs, what does say for us to- ow!" Marco was simultaneously hit in the head with a flying puking baby and tripped by a laser puppy chasing Agateor who was jumping across the floor… somehow.

"Gets back doggy, I's no chew toy." Marco looked up at Higgs annoyed as he spoke while Star and Eclipsa tried to catch babies.

"Higgs come on, can't you open that thing?" Higgs hesitated before replying.

"No, I just can't read." Marco froze in mid crouch and looked at Higgs in complete shock as he spoke.

"Wait, you can't read? How can you not…" Marco stopped mid-sentence remembering on of the facts his mother told him about medieval times. "Ohhhhhhh, sorry I forgot you guys live in a medieval world where education like that is uncommon." At this Star spoke up trying to wrangle the babies with magic as best as possible.

"Hey my parents are doing the best the best they can to make it accessible ok." Eclipsa spoke up at this as well.

"Um we can talk about ease of education to eliminate the ignorance and increase the prosperity of the masses latter; we have babies to contain here." Marco shook his head as moved up to Higgs taking the binder while she charged out to gather babies.

"Alright then." Marco opened the book looking through it for a second dodging another flying puking baby trying to keep pink vomit off of the binder. "It says we need to give them a bath." Star nodded and waved her wand while not losing focus on the babies she did catch.

"Rubber Ducky Bathtime Fun." A large Victorian style tub with the feet on it appeared and landed on the dining room table smashing it beneath its weight. "… *hehe* whoops." Marco spoke up.

"We can fix that later; get the babies in the tub." As if to accentuate his point his phone started ringing. _"Space Unicorn, soaring through the Stars. Delivering the Rainbows all around the world."_ Higgs and Eclipsa stared at him oddly. "It's supposed to be iro…"

"Wait." Star cut him off pointing to the babies. "Look." The babies it seems liked the music and had begun dancing to the ringing phone instead of just spewing everywhere. "No idea how that is working but grab a baby and put it in the tub." Everyone one nodded and gathered up the babies plopping them in the tub with Marco answering the phone.

"Hello. Oh hi mom just doing a surprise babysitting experience for Buff Frog. Yeah Star and I are fine so what's up. Hm. Ok then see you tomorrow." Marco hung up his phone turning towards everyone. "Ok Star just got news in that… what are you doing?" Star had just stripped down to her underwear and leapt in the tub with the babies and replied to Marco.

"Oh the book says you have to leap in with them to bath them properly. Besides I want to get this crude off of me." Star rubbed some stuff off of her as Higgs began pushing Marco out of the room.

"The princess is bathing, though you are courting her I cannot allow you to see her as such." She pushed Marco out of the room with him averting his eyes as he walked out.

"Ok just let me know when you guys are done. I'm gonna go get cleaned off as well." He walked upstairs as Star spoke to Higgs.

"Um that wasn't necessary…"

"Nonsense, I get you two are close but some proper etiquette is needed to protect my princess's honor." Star hesitated before replying.

"… because he's already seen me in my underwear before." Higgs began blushing at that not even replying due to the shock as Eclipsa chuckled and replied.

"Oh my dear so scandalous. *hehe* So how far have you two gone?" Star groaned as she blushed slightly.

"Seriously it's not what you think guys. We live in the same house only a few rooms apart and share the same bathroom so it's kind of inevitable." Eclipsa *oooh'd* at this while Higgs covered her mouth in shock. "Say while Marco is upstairs why don't you two get cleaned off as well and help me clean the babies." Eclipsa giggled as she snapped her fingers with her cloths, except for her underwear, disappearing in a flash of purple light. "Are you sure you should be using magic with that collar on?" Eclipsa scoffed as she stepped in the tub before replying.

"Oh don't worry dear, you and Higgs can explain the few odd spikes that do occur right?" Star nodded with the two looking at Higgs who was looking anywhere but the bathing royalty as she spoke.

"I-I should find somewhere else to clean off milady…" Eclipsa spoke up to that.

"Nonsense, no royal standards here just us girls." Star nodded speaking up as well.

"No pressure but it would be nice to receive help in cleaning the babies." Higgs looked torn for several more seconds before replying.

"Well… if your majesty insists." Higgs disrobed hesitantly and got in the tub relaxing into the warm water. "Oh ye Gods this feels divine." Eclipsa giggled at this before speaking.

"Never had a bath like this before have you?" Higgs shook her head no as she replied.

"No this type of luxury while given to some knights is not given to squires." She picked up a baby and began cleaning it with Star speaking up.

"Well thanks to aunt Helsinki this may soon be a luxury we can afford for everyone in not just the castle but in the whole city as well. If she can keep it from blowing up." The group giggled with a voice speaking up.

"Finally, gots away from da puppies. Oh hey gurls wat's goin on?" The three women looked at Agateor deadpan for second before he turned around and began hopping away. "Oh right yous busy, I'll gib you your space." He hopped out of the room accidentally getting caught up in the conflict between Nacho and the game avatars. The women shrugged before going back to cleaning the babies.

 **WH: time once again for...**

 **Audience: Guest Reviews.**

 **Shiranai Atsune: Why thank you. *blushes slightly***

 **Sugar: Well it dodn't make sense for Star to get it as she was with** **Marco** **already so... yeah. And who better to cast it then those two? I do like that you want to see more TomxJackie but I have an AMAZING amount to juggle so... could be a while mate. And a yes for Helsinki and Lancer, I did it specifically to show that people can find love no matter what age they are. :') Honestly, who wouldn't want to hug Marco at that age, he's adorbs. And that was kinda why I included those lines about guys checkign out Star. Don't worry, she will get more confident, maybe a little too soon to be realistic but I'll** **explain** **her logic... hopefully good enough for everyone. And Toffee would be a good friend of those people... if I knew who they were** **unfortunately** **. *ignorance** **intensifies** *****

 **Amu Chan: I will always listen, but only if your words make sense... which they do.**

 **Lord Demon: You got that story posted somewhere, I really wanna see it in full.**

 **The Book of Eli: MArco, kid size to play with his kids, intresting. *writes it down in the background* and of course toffee always has a plan, he's Toffee.**


	92. Star-sitting pt 2

Star and Eclipsa were drying off the babies as Higgs left to let Marco know they were finished with the bathing. After a few moments of Higgs being gone a girly shriek came from upstairs with Eclipsa looking up in concern and Star rolling her eyes and chuckling to herself. Eclipsa looked at Star in confusion as she just brushed off the scream and continued drying. Eclipsa went to question it but then a confused and shocked Higgs came downstairs with Star speaking up to her.

"You caught Marco on without a shirt didn't you?" Higgs nodded dumbly at that with Star rolling her eyes again. "Seriously what is it with Marco and keeping his chest covered, he's a guy?" Eclipsa spoke up at that.

"Wait that was Marco giving out the girly shriek? I thought that was Higgs stumbling onto something she shouldn't have." Higgs shook her head confirming Star's words.

"Yes that was Marco who hadn't put on a shirt yet, I'd recognize that scream anywhere after hearing it when… someone almost shot him accidentally with a crossbow." Star and Eclipsa nodded but looked a bit confused at the way Higgs had put it. "Regardless I've trained under the knight of the wash, not much shocks me anymore." Eclipsa and Star shuddered at that knowing fully well what some people shoved down into the laundry room. "He'll be down in a moment by the way." Steps coming down the stairs alerted them to Marco who came into the room trying to keep his hair neat as he spoke up.

"Seriously doesn't anyone knock anymore?" Eclipsa giggled as she replied to his question.

"Oh come on she didn't see anything THAT important now did she?" Marco crossed his arms and huffed as he replied.

"It's not what she saw it's the principle of it. People should not just barge into…" He then stopped talking as Star cocked an eyebrow at him as she replied.

"Yeah Mr. high and mighty like you've never done that." Marco looked down blushing with Higgs and Eclipsa sharing a confused yet curious look. "Regardless the babies are clean and…" Star was interrupted when the baby she was drying suddenly sprouted legs and stood up with Higgs and Marco looking on in shocked silence. Eclipsa on the other hand watched this with a big smile and spoke up gleefully.

"LEGS! Legs legs legs legs leeeeegs!" Higgs spoke up to Marco in worry.

"Does the book say anything on legs?!" Marco shook his head no as the other tadpoles grew legs and began running around with Eclipsa cheering them on.

"Go babies, go go go." Higgs however began to panic and spoke to herself scared.

"I am not ready for this, what do I do. Someone what do we do?" Marco watched the babies run and relaxed shrugging before following them.

"Just make sure they don't hurt themselves; and someone pick up Katrina." As it turned out Katrina didn't grow her legs and was just sitting there watching everyone run around with big ole eyes. At this Eclipsa cooed and picked Katrina up taking her to the couch and set her on one of the pillows.

"It's ok my special snowflake, you just wait here. Now then, let's partahhh!" Eclipsa took off after the babies with Star running around trying to catch the babies.

"Hey all of you get back here, no running around like a chicken with its head cut off!" Star leapt around trying to catch the babies but the babies seemed to have mastered their legs already and outmaneuvered even her abilities.

Higgs watched in shocked silence as chaos unfolded around her not sure of what to do or even if she could do anything. Eclipsa was running around with the babies having fun, Marco was setting things up so the babies didn't hurt themselves so easily, and Star was trying to catch the babies but was having a rather hard time doing so. After a few seconds of this chaos Star threw her wand to the side in frustration, the magic wasn't helping as much as it should have, and went yellow eyed leaping at the babies like a predator would. Higgs immediately leapt at this as she needed to calm Star down and Marco had left the room, presumably to baby proof the house as best he could. With Star trying to catch the babies and Higgs trying to catch Star both of them did not notice one of the babies set itself by the window and baited Star to leap at it. As Star did the baby opened the window making Star go flying out like a comet with Higgs flying right behind her. Star caught herself on her feet but the flying Higgs set them both off balance and tumbling into a pile with Higgs immediately trying to get up and help the princess up.

"I am so sorry my lady, I saw you went a bit predatory and I was afraid you might go…"

"It's ok Higgs I understand." Star calmed down Higgs as best she could hearing the window they flew out of slam shut. "Oh come on, these are babies. How the hell are they that smart!" Star moved to the window looking in.

She saw Eclipsa and the babies slide down the stairway banister in a line with Marco setting up pillows on the bottom for them to land on. Higgs joined her and they both watched in shock as Marco watched the babies bounce around with a smile on his face of all things as he baby proofed the house. Eclipsa continued to play with the babies, mostly sliding down the banister, but she too altered a few things she could tell were outright dangerous with magic before resuming the fun. Higgs and Star watched this for a minute before their vision was obstructed by the mini Marco and Nacho leaping into the sink from a long dive and pulling the plug draining the water to reveal dishes. The full sized Nacho fell into the pile of plates shattering them and squishing itself like an accordion as it continued to chase the mini figures. After that Higgs stepped back and spoke to Star.

"I mean no disrespect my lady, but are you sure Marco is responsible enough to be a squire for the king himself." Star face palmed at this and shook her head as she replied.

"Marco is really responsible when he chooses to be… but sometimes he chooses to just not go all the way." She looked up with a mixture of amusement and annoyance on her face. "I get you need to hang loose at times man but letting a swarm of babies run around the house with a child in an adult's body seems a little too laid back." Higgs nodded as she brought up the main concern at the moment.

"So, how are we getting back inside." Star scoffed at that and went to the back door.

"Oh that's easy. You just…" She went to open the door but found it locked. "… ok front door then." Higgs followed Star as she went around checking every opening the house had and helping Star try them out.

After circling the house a few times trying every window and door they could they found that the tadpoles had locked them out with a surprising thoroughness. Star groaned in frustration and mumbled about wishing she had not dropped her wand. Higgs on the other hand scanned the house like in one of her training exercises to find a weak spot in an enemy hideout looking for any weaknesses. The second story windows were an option but it was difficult to reach them… except for one with a tree branch next to it. Smiling she got Star's attention and pointed up.

"My lady, I have an idea."

* * *

Marco watched the tadpoles flying around the house and couldn't help but chuckle at their antics. Yes kids were hyperactive and loved to move around when they could and it was pointless to try and stop them. Instead he was going to just let them wear themselves out and just step in where needed. He watched Eclipsa slid down the stair banister and found himself smiling at her antics as she played with the babies. 'How could this woman be considered evil, she's a child in an adult's body.' Marco thought to himself rolling his eyes in amusement and exasperation. He got she could be hiding something but found it hard to believe that she would hide something in this situation all things considered, she wasn't even using that much magic simply because people told her too. As he did this Eclipsa grabbed onto him and pulled him towards the banister speaking up to him.

"Come on Marco, join in on the fun." Marco was ready to let the babies run around but he wasn't going to just participate in it as he needed to be there for an emergency.

" Look Eclipsa as much as I want to…" A crash upstairs got both of their attention prompting Marco to run upstairs. "Ok if those babies are destroying the house I'm gonna need to put my…" He came up to his parents room to see Star crawling in the window carefully to avoid the treadmill Higgs had fallen onto shooting her into the back wall. "… foot down. Star, Higgs what are you guys doing up here?" Star pulled herself in avoiding the tread mill gracefully which currently had a tadpole running on it at around 30 mph with her answering.

"The babies locked us outside when we tried to pull them into order Marco, how did you not notice we were missing?" Marco knelt down by Higgs to help her up as he replied.

"Hello, too busy baby proofing the house so they wouldn't hurt each themselves. Are you alright?" Higgs shook herself off before replying.

"Well I haven't taken a hit like that in months; what is that fiendish device that did that to me?" Before either of them could answer however Star's phone rang with her answering it quickly.

"Hello. Oh hey dad how's it going?" Marco and Higgs remained silent as Star talked to her father, but grew concerned as Star's face turned into panic. "Oh ok then. No that's no problem. See you soon buy." She hung up the phone turning to the duo. "DAD'S GOING TO BE HERE IN 10 MINUTES!" Marco and Higgs felt the blood drain from their faces as they replied in unison.

"We need to gather up the babies." Higgs snatched the one off of the treadmill with the trio running to the stair well spotting Eclipsa sliding down the banister with Marco shouting out to her.

"Eclipsa, we need to gather up the babies! Toffee is going to be here in 9 minutes!" Eclipsa got up from her latest slid and smiled at the trio before replying.

"Oh come on it's not so bad, we know where everyone is right? We can just use Marco's phone to summon them as they love music." The trio went to answer but stopped as they realized she did have a strange point. "And besides the only who can't move is right…" She turned to point at Katrina only to realize she wasn't where they had left her. Now Eclipsa's face showed panic as she yelled up at them. "Forget the other babies, we need to find Katrina!" The trio nodded at each other and joined Eclipsa in searching the hose with Higgs putting her tadpole down.

Star started in the kitchen using her magic to open every drawer quickly the Katrina could have possibly squeezed herself into. Higgs searched the laundry room and basement admiring at how small the washing devices earth's 'technology' produced for commoners. Eclipsa ran through the house searching as best she could in any corner she could get into and got anxious when she found no trace in the slightest of Katrina. Marco searched the whole second floor by himself except for Star's room as he knew the house the best. As they all did this the Laser puppies showed themselves again playing with the baby tadpoles and just getting in everyone's way whenever they passed through an area. At one point Marco had to stop when Nacho, somehow wielding a hammer, was chasing mini Star and Cloudy across the floor while mini Marco and Nacho with Agateor set up a trap involving dropping an Ironing Iron on Nacho's head. Shaking off this weirdness everyone finally gathered outside of the last room in the house, Star's room.

"Alright people, this is the final room and we still have 4 minutes left; let's do this!" Everyone nodded at Star's words as she opened the door… exposing a room nearly the same size as 2/3 of the rest of the house.

"We need an army to search this place." Higgs commented on this with Marco speaking up to Star.

"Do you really need a room this big?" Star replied a bit miffed.

"I don't see you complaining when we gather everyone for DnD here." As Higgs gaped and Marco and Star fumed at each other Eclipsa came up with an idea.

"Marco do you have your phone?" Everyone looked at her in confusion as Marco nodded. "Start playing that 'space unicorn thing'." Star and Higgs blinked in confusion but Marco seemed to grasp at what Eclipsa was hinting at.

 **Space Unicorn** **( watch?v=17o1OlroNSE)**

He pulled out his phone and started playing music on it turning to Star speaking up.

"Star, could you amplify this please?" Star nodded a bit unsure and made the music louder. "Alright then, time to summon the army."

 **Space Unicorn, soaring through the stars delivering the rainbows all around the world.**

The tadpoles all over the house immediately took notice of this and stopped whatever they were doing staring up at Star's room.

 **Space unicorn shining in the night smiles and hugs forever all around the world.**

The tadpoles moved towards Star's eager to get to the music… with the mini figure, Agateor, and Nacho joining them as they traveled towards Star's room.

 **So pure of heart, and strong of mind.**

The small crowd gathered up in Star's room with Star and Higgs gaping in shock at how easy it was to round everyone up. As the quartet watched the crowd began to dance to the music with Marco quickly speaking up.

 **So true of aim with his marshmallow laser, marsh mellow lasers.**

"Alright everyone, let's get this partah started!" the crowd of mini entities immediately looked at Marco in confusion. "You got some nice moves but try these on for size."

 **(Instrumental)**

Marco began rubbing his foot on the ground while shaking his arms like they held maracas with the tadpoles and other mini figures copying him. He then did a pose with everyone doing their own pose with Eclipsa joining in on the fun while Star laughed and Higgs watched in stunned silence. Marco then shook his behind a little and spun around assuming another pose with everyone doing something similar.

 **Space unicorn, soaring through the stars. Delivering the rainbows all around the world.**

"Alright you babies got some fine moves like these." Marco did a power slide with the group copying him. "But can you master the… find the Katrina!" Immediately everyone scattered looking under or in various items and areas looking for Katrina. Eclipsa, so caught up in her involvement joined them while Star moved over and rubbed Marco's head as a reward for a job well done.

 **Delivering the rainbows all around the world**

"How." The duo turned to see Higgs was staring at the crowd as they searched. "How did you get them to move like that when they had no training or cohesion at all?" Marco shrugged as he replied.

"When it comes to children you sometimes have to just speak their language. Something that only experience can teach you." Higgs turned towards Marco and gave a genuine smile as she punched his shoulder affectionately. Star chuckled at this before getting their attention.

"Hey they found something." One of the tadpoles pointed up to the highest loft in the tower. "How did Katrina get all the way up there without help or legs?" Marco shrugged as he raced up the ladder with everyone following behind him.

"Doesn't matter, we found her." The now rather sizable group gathered up in the upper loft to see Katrina sleeping on a pile of stuffed animal sleeping peacefully… ( **end music abruptly** ) surrounded by bear traps. "Star, why do you keep armed bear traps in your loft?" Star replied with a flick of her hair.

"You're afraid of going topless despite the fact that you're a guy yet you're not afraid of sneak thieves trying to steal my wand?" Eclipsa commented on this.

"I will admit that is a strange choice in priorities." Marco groaned and spoke up.

"Well how we are going to reach her, we don't have enough time to disable all the traps ourselves and we shouldn't let babies near…" Higgs stood up holding the binder above her head.

"We use the book." She threw the binder into the mass of bear traps and leapt slow motion after it with everyone; Marco, Star, Eclipsa, Agateor, Nacho, the mini's, and the babies; shouting 'NOOOOO' in slow motion.

* * *

A portal opened up in the Diaz living room with Butler, Toffee, and a bruised up Buff Frog stepping through the portal. Before them the tadpoles were all gathered around the coffee table with Eclipsa and Star sitting on the couch and Higgs and Marco standing at parade rest insuring the babies did not go anywhere. Buff Frog's smile was a mile wide when he stepped forward only for it to fall when he saw the babies stand up. As tears began coming to his eye he picked up the babies with Marco commenting.

"Um Buff Frog, are you ok?" Toffee and Butler both seemed to be hiding smiles at his display as Buff Frog answered.

"I missed tadpoles growing legs *sniff* most important developmental stage in frog growth." Eclipsa held up Katrina setting her on the ground as she replied.

"Well Katrina hasn't grown her legs yet." Everyone's eyes focused on Katrina as she stared at her father with big ole' eyes. Buff Frog sniffed and spoke up smiling happily at Katrina.

"My little late bloomer." As if to push his words home Katrina suddenly grew her own legs which were about twice as Buff as the other babies legs. "You grew your legs too! *sniff* Come to papa." Katrina ran on over and leapt into her father's arms with everyone smiling. As Buff Frog stood up Eclipsa carried the binder up to Buff Frog speaking up.

"Don't worry about their first steps, we recorded them in a new chapter." She opened the binder with a few sprung bear traps falling out.

Toffee and Butler were both alarmed at the traps but Buff Frog ignored them to coo over the pictures which showed the babies interacting with their babysitters. Toffee motioned for Higgs to come over with moving on up saluting him before giving the report she knew he wanted.

"All went well even with the surprise of them growing their legs your majesty. As for Eclipsa she seems to be a good person, albeit irresponsible and impulsive but not evil." Toffee nodded seemingly satisfied and replied with a question.

"So, what did you learn from your interaction with Marco today as he cared for the babies?" Higgs hesitated as she replied.

"Well… from what I can tell sometimes just following the rules will not work and could even hold you back so you need to be willing to at least consider bending them." Toffee raised his eyebrow at her. "And that some tasks you can never train for properly unless if you actually get out there and into the thick of it." Toffee nodded again satisfied with her as he replied.

"This is why I sent you here to learn from Marco. While he does not have your experience you do not have his experience and as the two knights closest to the Queen and King you will need a far wider range of skills then most knights will ever have too." They looked up to see Marco showing Buff Frog how to use music to calm them down. "And as much as you need to follow protocol Marco's impulsiveness has been proven to be a valuable tool when used right as sometimes you just need to think on your feet." Higgs nodded remembering how she got Katrina from the bear traps.

"I think I learned that last part more fully then even I realized." Toffee smiled and nodded at Higgs rubbing her head with Higgs blushing at Toffee's sudden show of affection. "Now then everyone, I think today's activities are in fact far from over." Everyone looked up at him as he smiled at Marco. "Buff Frog deserves the rest of the day off after what he has just been through and you have proven to be rather capable babysitters so Butler will stop by later to pick p the tadpoles." Eclipsa grew a smile as she replied.

"Does this mean I get to stay as well?" Toffee nodded with Eclipsa squeeing in glee as she picked up the babies hugging them close.

"And too all of you I bid you good day." He moved over quickly and kissed his daughter's cheek. "Bye my little MonStar." The three adults went back through the portal as everyone waved goodbye. After a few seconds of them just standing around after the portal closed Eclipsa spoke up.

"So what do we do now?" Everyone immediately looked at Marco who chuckled at their attention. As he went to answer however a scream sounding like Tom's from Tom and Jerry came from Nacho who was leaping on one hind paw while trying to get a mouse trap off of the other hind paw. The group stared at him for a second before Marco commented.

"Perhaps we should see what Nacho and our mini figures have been up too before they cause more craziness." Everyone nodded and left the tadpoles in the living room to investigate.

 **Janna: Say when are you gonna pay any attention to JanJak, he's still stuck in my room in the basement?**

 **WH: Do you know how hard it is to juggle all of these side plots Janna, there are others as well as your I have not been paying attention too fully. *Looks at an image of Selene Dragon running off into the woods and one of Kelly and Tad being a couple* And those are just the add on's to give this world extra depth not the vital plotlines; give me time Janna I'm doign my best.**

 **Janna: Ok whatever.**

 **WH: Whew. Anyways, next time around what has been going on in Mewni and what was Buff Frog up too in the first place. Well join me with a 'Fox and a Frog' to find out next time on Star The Monster Princess. Oh right an also time for...**

 **Audience: Guest Reviews.**

 **Shiranai Atsune: Thank you for loving this so much, I try to do my best after all.**

 **Sugar: I kind of had to do this with Eclipsa as Star was too level headed, necessity often brings about the best ideas. Well in this story Higgs does genuinely respect Marco because he earned her respect and Star is the princess, Higgs would never dare to challenge her future queen on anything even if she didn't agree on it. Those facts about Higgs were true for most people in the middle ag** **es** **as education was just hard to come by without wealth or power; and yes Star is going to push for a wider range just like her parents are trying too. As for the mini adventures, unfortunately the joke is that they're going on in the background so not much more is going to be given about them. But sometimes like Charmin ultra, less is more!**

 **Book of Eli:I get ideas from everyone and everyone if they seem good enough for me. So much fun is** **going** **down here obviously but you're right about the looming cloud. In fact, this is** **going** **to be the last true 'filler' episode for awhile.**

 **Unamed 1: Don't worry about the commission,** **their** **secret will come out soon enough. In fact the next time you actually see the commission is when the secret comes out.**


	93. The Fox and the Frog pt 1

**WH: *Comes in through the window ala Kim Possible style looking around silently* Ok that took longer then expected, maybe I should call in some help to deal with reality again before it becomes too much to deal with. Regardless... *reaches into his shirt and pulls out a file***

 **Janna: *turns the light on startling the Hippie* So you got the goods.**

 **WH: Please don't do that, I might strike you next time that happens.**

 **Janna: *shrugs nonchalantly* Whatever man. You got the goods?**

 **WH: *SMiles as he reveals a folder with 'Daron's explanation for Starco' on it* Let's take a looksie. *Opens up with the two looking in to see these words.**

 _ **I had originally planned for Starco to happen since the beginning but I wanted it to be the climax because I thought just showing them together would have been boring.**_

 **Janna: *Looks up with a face of absolute disappointment written all over it* The fans are right, you are a better writer then she is.**

 **WH: You know what... I'm actually gonna agree with you on this one.**

 **OM and SN: *Gasps in the background***

 **WH: That's right I said it, at least for the romance aspect. I put Star and Marco together, is my story boring? No because I actually know how to write this shit! *fumes silently with Janna turnign towards the camera***

 **Janna: This is real people, look it up. Enjoy the episode folks.**

"How can you have nothing Oliver, you are the best person to find these things out?" Oliver shook his head at Toffee's words as he replied.

"Conventional spy systems don't work here because there is simply nothing TOO infiltrate and we have found no spies from their side to act as double agents. And even if we did find any there is no guarantee that they will come over to our side as most of them have proven they would rather die than give info from the few warriors we have captured." Toffee nodded as he replied.

"Fair enough, then how about conventional scouting?" Oliver shook his head as he replied in turn.

"No tracks are found going to or from the attack sites leaving us nowhere to follow to. And none of the area scouting we have done has unearthed any information of where they could be hiding. Whoever is leading them is covering their tracks with expertise." Toffee nodded and looked out the window of his private office speaking the words on both of their minds.

"It's clear 20 years of experience have led to conventional scouting being ineffective just like with most Monster groups back when Mewni tried to hunt them down. As our conventional methods are not working we need someone who is an expert in a field of 'unconventional' tactics to simply provide information. And for once… I have no idea who we should turn too." Oliver gave a surprised noise as Toffee turned to look at him. "Oh come on even I am not that good. It's not like the best man is going to just walk through the…" A knock sounded at the door to his study with Toffee pausing. "… could it be… no it's too easy…" He and Oliver looked at each other with neutral expressions before Toffee made a decision. "*sigh* Come in." Buff Frog stepped into the room saluting Toffee before speaking.

"Your Majesty I have the reports for today's evaluations for the squires of Mewni and potential recruits for the Royal guard. Will you need anything else for the day?" Toffee and Oliver looked at each other with intrigued looks before Oliver spoke up.

"Yes actually, how would you gather intel on a group that conventional spying and scouting methods did not work on?" Buff Frog blinked in confusion for a second before replying.

"I would use wilderness experts to track groups back to source of where…" Toffee cut Buff Frog off.

"If you couldn't track them at all." Buff Frog rubbed in chin in thought for a second before answering.

"I would set up ambush at likely raiding site not to protect but to just observe and see where they move back too. Then I would send out lots of scouts and follow up on areas where scouts don't return from with wilderness experts who know how to hide as well as any gruella fighter." Toffee rubbed his chin in thought for a second before speaking to Oliver.

"By chance, were there areas you didn't get info on simply because the scouts did not return?" Oliver hesitated before nodding and began explaining.

"There were a few areas, one inparticular that more than half of the scouts did not return from." Buff Frog spoke up at this.

"Um something I should know about your majesty?" Toffee nodded and began explaining.

"Are you aware of the increased threat the Forest Barbarians have posed recently?" Buff Frog nodded. "We have been trying to figure out on how to simply collect information on their current movements and have not had much luck. Our conventional systems are not working, would you care to oversee the operations of gathering intelligence?" Buff Frog thought for a second before replying.

"I am no pencil pusher so management would be ill suited for me. I am however a good field agent; I will gladly investigate the areas myself." Both Toffee and Oliver blinked in shock as Toffee replied.

"Buff Frog, are you sure about doing this yourself?" Oliver added onto those words.

"It has been a long time since you led the southern raiders against Mewman knights and lords, not since the War of Moonlight Shadow." Buff Frog puffed out his chest as he replied.

"I am simply volunteering for what I do best your majesty and comrade Oliver. I can help train field spies for duty and tell you secrets of the trade in tracking down rebels but I do not think we have time for that at moment if problem is as bad as you think it is." Oliver glanced at Toffee as Toffee thought about it for a moment before responding.

"And you are sure you are the best one for the job?" Toffee's tone was neutral but Buff Frog could detect the hint of worry in Toffee's voice.

"My friend and comrade Toffee, I do believe I am the best one for the task despite the risk to myself. We all must be willing to give it our all if success is to be achieved despite any chance of harm or life loss. I am older yes but I am also wiser and smarter as well and my strength has not declined in the slightest. And I have powerful motivation to both go out there and to return alive; my own family's well-being." Buff Frog paused to take a deep breath. "I must help you as best I can to insure a good future for my children and you know I will come back to insure that my children will not be orphans." Toffee stared at Buff Frog long and hard before finally nodding in agreement and speaking.

"Very well, you will pick which people will accompany you if any and have them prepped in three days' time. Oliver will give you what information he has available of said area and what little we do know about these raiders."

* * *

Buff Frog looked through the branches of the tree he was hiding in using as much gut feeling as sight to detect if anyone was hiding out in the woods. Having survived being hunted by Mewmans for years before joining up with Moon and hunting Johansen warriors after the war 'ended' he had developed a sixth sense when it came to hiding and fighting in the forests of Mewni. And as of right now while he didn't see anything off he felt like some of the plants were in places they _shouldn't_ be right now and the forest was quieter than it should have been. He made note of these things and moved through the trees as best he could to not alert anything of what exactly he was. Despite what many people think it is in fact impossible to move silently through the woods no matter how slow you go. However the forest makes its own sounds so yours could be swallowed up in the cacophony of noise and, if you were experienced enough, you could even disguise your noises to sound like something else was in place of you. Buff Frog managed to move through the trees, a surprisingly difficult task even with his ability to jump, and made it to a 'safe' area where he met up with a small group of Monsters and Mewmans who he had selected to help him out in scouting the terrain.

"So, what did you find comrades?" Buff Frog spoke to the group with each one giving their own report.

"Nothing to the creek."

"The willow grove is predictably empty."

"I spotted some markings indicating drakes were nearby at the columbine grove."

"Some signs of ghillie suits around the three boulders, did not investigate further."

"A tree mounted post with 'nothing' on it near the big blue tree."

"Nothing by the marshland." Buff Frog nodded and took all their information into account pulling out a map of the area, not of high quality but good enough, and marked down what they saw where they saw it. After a few minutes of this the reports finally wrapped up with Buff Frog noticing their sightings created a 'curve' like it was part of a circle. He showed the map to everyone before speaking.

"We are in fact dealing with something out here, and whatever this is is trying to hide with great effect. You lot will try to circle around to the left, you lot to the right." He pointed to two distinct groups among his comrades. "Meet up here to exchange information and send off to headquarters." He pointed to spot not far from a distinctively shaped rock, but not on it as he would have set an ambush on it to trap scouts if he was in charge given how easily it could be a rendezvous point. "I will scout out point ahead and send rat if anything is off to inform you lot." Everyone nodded as Buff Frog handed off their current information to one of their rats which scampered off into the undergrowth.

The Rats of Mewni were originally an isolationist lot being one of the intelligent animal races, right alongside the pigeons, keeping apart from Mewmans and Monsters. However Moon became their friend and ally after sparing their leader when The Shadow Clause forced them to attack the castle back before The War of Moonlight Shadow. Now they lived as citizens of Mewni with their own reservation that held a separate town that was completely self-governed aside from some edicts from Queen Moon. They worked in many aspects of Mewni life but their most valued role were as spies, scouts, and messengers due to their ability to sneak and blend in as ordinary animals. Currently one was hiding on each individual per Buff Frog's request incase if things went south so information could be delivered while he himself had two others on him.

Nodding to each other the groups split up with Buff Frog moving quickly through the trees careful to not conceal his movements as well as he could have. He hoped that by doing this he could see just how attentive the sentries were and to find out what protective measures they had in place especially when it came to a potential meet-up point. If he was in charge he would not immediately attack any perceived scouts, that would only alert the others, but ambush them at where he thought the scouts would gather. 'So much detail work, and many nobles say this is easy sneaking around enemy.' Buff Frog thought to himself with a smile as he made it to the oddly shaped rock. He looked out carefully trying to see if there was anyone around or signs of anyone before taking out his two rats and setting them on a branch, with the rats cracking their backs after being cooped up for so long. After letting them adjust he leaned down to their ears and spoke quietly but did not whisper, that carried noise farther then talkgn quietly.

"Alright comrades, watch and see if anything happens to me. If something does go to clearing and set up warning sign for others. Da?" The rats nodded with Buff Frog moving through the branches to get a better look at the clearing.

He needed a better viewing point so he moved towards a nice look out branch to take a look around, prominent but hidden behind leaves. As he went to test out the branch however his instincts told him something was off as branches like this were uncommon in nature. He stared at the trunk and felt it over as best he could trying to see if he could pick out any signs of cutting or paint as he tested the branch. Little did he know that he had made a terrible mistake at trying to do two things at once dropping his guard considerably. As he did this elaborate act of testing the branch with one leg while standing on the other and feeling over the smooth trunk with both hands a sharp pain erupted from his ankle like something had struck it. Naturally he slipped landing on the branch which collapsed under his weight due to a precut section sending him falling through the branches. He tried grabbing for something and did find a rope but hanging onto it only caused him to swing right into a net that closed up tight. He muttered a quick "Nu der'mo (well shit)" as the net fell from the tree crashing to the ground knocking the wind out of him as he berated himself from forgetting to maintain three points of contact with the tree at all times. He looked up and around him seeing three cloaked figures emerge from the surrounding brush, two humanoid shaped figures and a small one that seemed to be floating off the ground. One of the figures spoke up with an almost doll like feminine voice that he was pretty sure came from the small floating figure.

"Well well, and we were wondering when would be the best time to take the fight to Moon." The small figure pulled down the hood to reveal a white cat's head with a blue diamond in the forehead. "Yet here is her captain of the guard wrapped up like a present." Buff Frog looked up into the creature's one icy blue eye and one blind white eye with a lightning scar running through it speaking out of reflex.

"Baby?" Baby chuckled as held out her paw reveal the two rats he had put out to run, both gagged and tied up, as she replied.

"Lost something have we? Meow." At that Buff Frog felt a blow to the back of his head before blackness consumed him.

* * *

Baby led the group bearing Buff Frog past the sentries and several of the now dead scouts as they got to a rock. Baby's gem glowed making the rock levitate allowing her small group to carry Buff Frog down into their base with a sentry outside tapping their cloak's clasp making the rock levitate back down to it's sitting position. This did not go unnoticed by a figure sitting in a tree observing all this behind what appeared to be a Kabuki mask shaped to look like a fox's. The figure nodded at this and slipped down the tree silently and moved across the ground like a ghost, impossibly silent, past two sentries it had knocked unconscious and picked up one of their ghillie suits covering itself with it. Moving to where the sentries directly guarding the entrance was it gave a signal with its hands prompting a chirp to come from them which it replied with a loon's call; or an equivalent of it. Settling down with the others it waited for the guards to change shifts and for the door to opened for it.

* * *

Buff Frog opened his eyes blearily blinking out the gunk in them as best he could and feeling a distinct throbbing in his head. 'Well, might have a concussion when this is over, at best.' He thought to himself as he knew he was captured by the Forest Barbarians, and by Baby no less. He felt a slight patting on his right cheek before his head was pulled up greeting his still blurred vision to a rather large and beefy man with long white hair and a beard bearing an eye patch over his left eye. The man smiled at him and spoke up.

"Well you finally joined us Froggy. For a minute there I thought I would have to wake you up myself." He pushed Buff Frog back into the dirt floor taking a few steps back. "He's awake Baby, although not too with it at the moment." Buff Frog looked around noticing he was in a small dirt room with only this figure and Baby within it as Baby spoke up.

"Well that doesn't matter Dumnorix, we don't need much out of him right now." Buff Frog tried sitting up but found he was properly hog tied with a rope all around him making movement difficult. "Don't bother struggling, even if you got out of the rope you're in an enemy hideout and in no fighting shape. There's no escape this day." Buff Frog actually managed to right himself and glared at the two entities as best he could before speaking.

"Well does not matter, I will tell you nothing like your spies tell us nothing." The two figures chuckled with Dumnorix replying.

"How arrogant of you to compare yourself to a Mewman who has not forgotten their heritage Buff Frog. You forget your own cowardly and monstrous heritage." Buff Frog spat back at him quickly.

"You mean the one you've adopted for yourself?" The two figures only chuckled at his retort with Baby shooting out a beam of light from her crystal fusing his mouth shut before replying.

"Don't interrupt us, it's very rude. We have ways of making you talk whether you want to or not; so we will just see how strong that so called sense of loyalty you have to the Monster Whore lasts before you abandon it. But for now just enjoy the accommodations while they last, we will be moving tomorrow to a better location to hold a proper interrogation. Buuuuuut I can make things more 'comfortable' for you if you let us know how many were with you spying on us." She undid the sealing with Buff Frog replying.

"Eat me bitch." He then spat into Baby's good eye with Dumnorix chuckling a little bit before punching Buff Frog to the ground again before speaking.

"Well he's stupid but he has the spirit. Enjoy your defiance while it lasts, it's not going to last long when we're done with you." The two walked out with Baby growling at Buff Frog before leaving and closing the door behind her. Buff Frog sighed before speaking to himself.

"Well you're in deep shit now, and all because you forgot how to climb a tree."

* * *

The boulder lifted up with the figures standing guard under the now moonlit sky moved into the hideout silently. The replacements had come out five minutes before the previous ones had to sneak back in to prevent log jamming and potentially leaving the entrance open for too long. Of course that was inconsequential as the figures moved into the hideout with two of them bumping into each other with one being knocked against the wall and taking a knee. The one who wasn't shock it's head and helped the one who was knocked down speaking up.

"Ok you need to right yourself, we can't be taking no naps with the Queen's men getting smart all of a sudden." The figure nodded looking down as if embarrassed and moved to the rear with the other two chuckling. "You two be quite, I guarantee one of you two will do something similar eventually; and you again." He pointed to one of them with all of them casting their heads down. After a minute or so the got to a main room and took off their suits. "Well that was an eventful day, but no time to rest. We have new assignments to tear down this hideout and move now that we've been discovered." The two that followed him nodded… wait. "Say where is your friend?" One of the figures shrugged before replying.

"Maybe taking a breather, not sure." The lead figure groaned and shook his head before speaking.

"Well no matter, we'll dredge them up eventually. Get moving and see to Baby's commands." They saluted and left with the leader looking up the entrance tunnel. "Alright you have five minutes, but no longer." He turned his back leaning against a wall to take a breather himself, it was actually not easy being a guard and concealing yourself like that, not noticing a small figure slip silently behind him.

The figure shot a small needle at him through a blow dart reed which he scratched at idly with grumbled annoyance about ticks. The figure leaned down looking at the floor as if tracking something before moving silently through one of the tunnels as the man gave an idle yawn. Moving silently through the tunnels at first it's going was easy actually getting through one of rooms before it encountered a party coming it's direction. With smooth tunnel walls there was nothing to hide behind so it drew a pair of tools that it used to latch onto the ceiling letting the duo who rounded a corner pass underneath it. Assured they were gone it fell to the ground unnaturally silent and moved through the tunnels continuing its tracking. It made good progress again until it encountered a room where figures were moving equipment with purpose, not rushing but with purpose. The figure put on its ghillie suit again and moved into the room and picked up one of the items to move it to a small hand cart. After a minute of this it worked its way across the room, offering a hand silently wherever needed before it slipped away down the next tunnel leaving one of the warriors to speculate.

"Who was that, and why were they wearing their ghillie suit down here?" The figure then shrugged and helped finish up the packing and moved along.

The small figure silently moved with a bit more purpose now knowing for sure it had a time limit hearing the warriors talk amongst themselves of moving shop before dawn. It continued like this for several more minutes of dodging another moving group or two before finally getting close to its target. Pausing before a sharp corner it took out a mirror and used it to look around the corner seeing that there were two guards standing in front of a door. The fact they had put a door with a lock in here meant something important was behind it and it was fairly sure it knew what it was. Donning the ghillie suit again it moved around the corner announcing its presence in carefully noisy footsteps like an ordinary walker would have. Predictably the two guards stiffened up but then let their guard down when they saw a ghillie suit clad figure move around the corner moving up to them with one speaking up.

"So we're finally ready to move the prisoner, a little bit sooner than I had anticipated honestly." The second guard nodded with the figure reaching into its pocket as if to get out keys. "Oh don't bother we have… wait only we and Baby have keys and she wouldn't…" He didn't finish his sentence as the figure pulled out a black egg leaving them looking confused. "…" The figure then crushed the egg by slamming it's palms together in a theatrical fashion. "…okayyyyy…" It then flung the glass powder hidden in the hollowed out eggshell at the two unprepared guards blinding them.

They immediately dropped their weapons clutching their eyes with muffled curses as the figure attacked them drawing a pair of weapons.

* * *

Buff Frog sat in the room trying to get comfortable while muttering songs to himself, an odd thing to do but he didn't know what else to do. There was nothing to help him cut the ropes, he could barely stand, had a splitting headache, couldn't get the door open unless if he freed himself, and he was fairly certain he could not find his way out of the hideout. Nto to mention all of the Forest Barbarians that would immediately come down on him if he broke out.

"Stoy, kak derevo, a ne kak kamen'. Kamen' krepok, no derevo khorosho izgibayetsya ... (Stand like wood and not like stone, Stone is strong but wood bends well...)"

"So we're finally ready to move the prisoner, a little bit sooner than I had anticipated honestly." Buff Frog sighed as he knew he wasn't going home anytime soon. "Oh don't bother we have… wait only we and Baby have keys and she wouldn't…" Buff Frog immediately got into a kneeling position as best he could upon hearing those words knowing what was about to happen next; he didn't know know but his instincts told him to be ready especially when he heard the sound of an eggshell crack. "…okayyyyy…" Then the sounds of muffled curses and metal against flesh sounded from outside lasting only a few seconds before the jangling of keys could be heard.

After a few seconds the door opened revealing two guards down for the count, dead or unconscious it didn't matter, with another figure standing at the door dropping the keys. It was a short petite figure wearing close fitting garments that looked to have been made out of grecko chameleon skin designed to fade into the background. The only noticeable features on the androgynous figure was a red and black Kabuki mask made to look like a fox's face and a pair of brass colored weapons in it's hands. Buff Frog smiled at it and got up baring himself to it and speaking to it.

"About time you got here. We must be quick; they will be here to pick me up soon." It nodded silently and moved its brass weapons to reveal that they trench knives with brass knuckles that it used to cut Buff Frog free. Shaking off the rope the figure handed him a small stoppered gourd which Buff Frog took and only hesitated a second before drinking. "If you wanted me dead you would leave me here." He recognized the taste of spicy-wort, something Monster Druids brewed to heighten ones sense before battle; it was also becoming popular as an 'energy drink' of sorts. "Vy znayete vykhod otsyuda? (You know way out of here?)" The figure nodded letting Buff Frog know it understood native Monster tongue. "Togda vpered. (Then let's go)" It nodded and the two moved with Buff Frog quickly picking up a weapon from one of the fallen guards.

 **OM... or OP... it's Omnitraxus Prime: And now, since the Hippie is too upset to do so, time for some more...**

 **Audience: Guest Reviews!**

 **Sugar: I liked that joke myself, one of the better ones in that chapter. Also who wouldn't be scared of Toffee coming in with a complete disaster in the room? Even Moon might be nervous. ;)**

 **Shiranai Atsune: Thank you, and sorry it's taking so long to write. :3**

 **The Book of Eli: You were wondering, well here is your first taste.**

 **Anonymous** **: with pleasure.**

 **The Opininator: Well season three/four is going to be very different not because I didn't think it was optimal but because I planned something else out entirely. But please do send me ideas, I take them all.**


	94. The Fox and the Frog pt 2

***Psst, sorry if I seemed mean spirited in the previous chapter. As it turned out Daron had another reason for not just getting them together. She wanted to depict people learning that they belonged with each other even when trying it with other people. Could it have been done better... obviously, but it's... less painful so to speak when you hear the reason. So what if she failed with the Love Triangle, at least she was trying... I think. Ahem, anyways back to business.***

"Alright you lot, get the drakes in here. We need to keep the portal open as little as possible to insure Heckapoo doesn't find us." Dumnorix barked out the orders to his warriors as they finished pilling up most of the equipment they had. "Baby, if you would do the honors?" He gestured to the main room with Baby nodding.

The crystal in her head glowed brightly before she zipped forward with superhuman speed enlarging the chamber. Normally they didn't go this big due to room instability with dirt collapsing rather easily, but they weren't going to be here for much longer. As Baby finished Dumnorix tried to take measure of her again and failed yet again. He shrugged that off as Baby spoke up moving to the entry way.

"Alright, let's go collect the Tremorfidian crystal and get our Froggy infiltrator." Dumnorix nodded as they walked off with the silence lasting only a few seconds before he spoke up.

"We may need to change tactics if Moon was able to find us." Baby sighed and nodded replying.

"We can't exactly change too much though and if we were to change it what would we change it into. The Changewings aren't exactly trained enough to stand guard duty yet so there's always a chance they could be spotted." Dumnorix nodded in consent to that with Baby continuing. "Although those 'ghillie' suits were a great idea, where'd you get it from?" Dumnorix chuckled as he replied.

"Ironically from Monsters as they had been hiding from us for centuries before the War of Moonlight Shadow. It is right to learn even from your enemies." Baby nodded before they moved along for a minute more. "Say, where'd you get your mark from?" Baby looked at him confused until Dumnorix pointed to his eyepatch. "Got mine from a mob of Monster/Mewman peasants while defending the remnants of house Septimus when they came to join us during the Red Winter. Kind of embarrassing to be honest." Baby shrugged as she replied.

"Marks are usually gotten through a lack of judgment or underestimating your opponent, which is where I got mine. You know of how I once served the Butterfly family and how I left?" Dumnorix nodded knowing that Baby once was an evaluator for the Butterfly heirs when it came to magical prowess. There was a rather famous story of how Baby had remained in service when Moon was crowned and didn't kick up a fuss until Moon was with child from Toffee; Dumnorix still shuddered at the thought of those two together like 'that'. Baby had proposed they abort the child as it was best for the Butterfly lineage, citing compelling evidence in Dumnorix's opinion, but the Monster whore was adamant about it. So Baby quit claiming that this was the last straw after all of what the lizard and the queen had done. "Well there is more to that story. After I left I knew I needed to get rid of the child before it corrupted the magical heritage of the Butterfly's, so I planned to assassinate her." Dumnorix's eye brow went up as he heard there had been multiple assassination attempts but didn't know about this one. "I came back to Moon after Star was born asking for forgiveness and claiming that I had misjudged the damage Star could do. She forgave me and let me back in where I waited for suspicions to die down before going for the kill. However when I entered Star's nursery the damn lizard was waiting for me and got my eye before I could react." Baby fumed for a moment before continuing. "Wounded, I tried to outmaneuver the lizard and strike at Star but he held the child close and slipped away from most of my blows and the few I did land he intercepted so he was the one hurt. After a minute or so Moon showed up demanding to know what was going on, prompting me to flee as I would have been no match for her." Baby sighed and turned to look at Dumnorix as she floated along. "I probably had the best chance out of anyone and I threw it away by underestimating Toffee and only got this as my reward." She pointed to her bad eye as Dumnorix nodded and replied.

"Well at least you tried, and that's what matters most. Closer then I have ever gotten and I have gone after her more times than I can count." They moved into one of the rooms, the one right after the entry way specifically, and they saw someone sleeping next to the entrance. "Oh for fucks sake…" Baby quickly moved up and pulled out an air horn blowing it in the man's ear making him spring up in shock. "Disturb any pleasant dreams did we?" The man shook his head as he went to reply.

"No sir no *yawn* didn't even realize I was sleeping." He shook his head again clearly having trouble waking up. "I was just waiting for one of *yawn* our guards to come in from taking a breather in the entry hallway." Baby and Dumnorix looked at each other rolling their eyes as Baby went up the hallway with her magic, only to come back two seconds later speaking up.

"Well there is no one up there." The man shook his head replying.

"But I'm sure of it, that person bumped into me and dropped to their knees. *yawn* The four of us had just finished up and were coming back in to help transport supplies so I waited for a few minutes…" Dumnorix scoffed at him before speaking.

"Enough excuses, get moving and help out, we still have a lot of work to…" Dumnorix stopped mid-sentence as the man scratched the back of his neck with something falling out. "… hmmm…" He kneeled down and picked up the almost invisible needle that had dropped from the man's neck. "… hello, what's this?" Baby looked at it closely 'scanning it' with her gem before speaking.

"That's an urchin spine, how'd you spot it?" Dumnorix shrugged as he replied.

"One gains a knack for spotting small thi… wait a minute why would an oceanic creature's body part be this far inland…" They looked at each other a second before speaking at the same time.

"Infiltrator." Baby speed down one of the side tunnels while Dumnorix spoke to the still waking up man.

"Sound the alarm, the whole tunnel system is to be locked down NOW!"

* * *

Buff Frog and the figure, he was addressing it as 'The Fox' for now, moved silently through the tunnels surprised there weren't more people around. 'Of course they are moving so many are probably busy with other areas.' Buff Frog thought to himself as he followed the figure. The figure was a complete mystery to him at the moment as he wondered how it had even found him or this base. Judging from the clothing and the tactics he suspected it was one of the warrior druids that had been created recently called the Hassashim. 'Odd though, it does not look like any Monster type I know of.' Buff Frog's thoughts were interrupted by The Fox freezing and cocking it's head to the side as if to listen better. Buff Frog did the same thing closing his eyes to help; doing this does not give you better hearing but it does help you to focus on hearing. Soft footsteps were coming in their direction with Buff Frog opening his own eyes to notice The Fox was gone and a Ghillie suit was in place. 'Well, time to see if I can get by.' Buff Frog donned the ghillie suit to hide his appearance and slouched over to break-up his profile a little bit. As figures appeared he called out to them quietly disguising his voice as best as possible.

"Ah, there is someone else." The two figures looked at him in confusion. "I have news for Baby, the Frog seems to have 'reconsidered' being so steadfast. Where is she?" The two figures looked at each other and chuckled a little with one replying.

"So much for one of the toughest entities in Mewni. She was going for the Tremorfidian crystal and then getting to the main hall. Not much we can do to that slimeball but she will want to hear about that." Buff Frog shrugged as he moved past them.

"Eh, what are ya gonna do, he's a Monster?"

"Fair enough." The second one spoke as they moved along with The Fox dropping down from the ceiling when they were out of sight.

Buff Frog smiled at it with The Fox seeming to consider for a second before nodding to him and leading him along. They continued moving with The Fox stopping at one point to look at the floor as if looking for tracks. They finally got to a room that wasn't empty containing what appeared to be a small file cabinet and a desk with a chair. As Buff Frog blinked in confusion at this The Fox moved forward to the cabinet and opened it pulling out a few files which it promptly stuffed into its body suit, somehow, and then gestured for Buff Frog to follow it.

"Deystvitel'no, my sdelali ob"yezd dlya oformleniya dokumentov. (Really, we did a detour for paperwork)?" The Fox gestured a bit more assertively with Buff Frog rolling his eyes as he follow it out of the room… and directly in front of Baby.

They stared at each other for a second before Buff Frog tried striking at Baby with her nimbly dodging his thrust. Baby hissed in annoyance and went to fly away but The Fox threw some sort of black egg at her and struck her around the face with Baby screeching as she flew away. She got away from them but she kept on bumping into walls, floors, and ceilings trying to find her way around. Buff Frog looked at The Fox with the both of them nodding before running. With stealth no longer being an option they moved at full speed even though the dirt floor silenced them plenty.

* * *

"Gather at the entrance, with the crystal still active it is the only way out unless if they wish to tunnel! You lot, with me to secure The Frog, we can't let him escape. And everyone be on the lookout for figures disguised as us, if they are wearing a ghillie suit they either remove it or will be attacked." Everyone nodded at Dumnorix's commands as they went to spread the word. As he went to lead his contingent however Baby came in bouncing off every surface imaginable, including a random warrior **The Wilhelm scream sound effect ( watch?v=xn6hhrX34Pw)** , before stopping in front of Dumnorix hers eyes blood shot and teary. "Baby…" She screeched at everyone who would listen.

"The figure is a Warrior Druid here to rescue Buff Frog and steal intel! Everyone is to get to the exit now!" Everyone stared at her a second before scrambling with only several having to change orders. "Water, I need water!" A random solider offered her water which she used to clean out her eyes. "Whew, ok I can see. I'm fine I'm cool, *inhale* I'm fine." She turned to Dumnorix. "Whoever it was that came in here is an expert; we may have to collapse the exit tunnel before we're ready." Dumnorix stared at her blankly for a second before answering.

"That bad huh? Well let's get all outside forces in here with emergency recall, a little ahead of schedule but that makes no difference in the long run." The two then moved off knowing this was gonna be close if Baby was outmaneuvered by the escapees.

* * *

 **Avatar - The chase ( watch?v=MLDuwLELTls)**

A gong sounded out that made the very earth shudder around The Fox and the Frog prompting them to increase speed. Most likely Baby had told everyone at this point and they needed to move or they would not be getting out of here. They rounded a corner into a room seeing several warriors had just finished packing up and were picking up weaponry. Using surprise as an advantage Buff Frog charged straight into the room bowling over two warriors and leaping through one of the doorways with The Fox right behind him. As warriors shouted out and went after them The Fox took the lead and took him down the left way in a fork in the tunnel. Thinking quickly Buff Frog smashed one of the pillars supporting the roof making it cave in behind them so they wouldn't be followed. Heaving a sigh of relief of not being followed they rounded another corner… filled with three times as many warriors who seemed less surprised. 'oops.'

The Fox reacted quickly pointing to one tunnel and threw some smoke bombs into the room quickly filling it up with the two leaping into it trying to reach the exit on the other side. Buff Frog twirled his weapon and struck down three opponents in as many seconds closing his eyes so the smoke didn't blind him. The Fox moved the room gracefully as if it could see through the smoke and took down warriors left and right like it was dancing. They made it to the other side and began running down the tunnel out of the smoke encountering several more warriors in their path brought in their direction by the commotion. The Fox took a running leap using buff Frog as a spring board to land on two of the warriors imbedding its trench knives into their skulls dropping them like sacks of flour. Buff Frog slid past The Fox and leapt off the wall body slammed into the remaining warriors toppling them like dominoes as he rolled over them into a kneeling position.

 **(restart music at 0:05)**

Taking off running again it felt like the warriors were all around them as they rounded another corner into an empty room. The Fox ran for one exit with Buff Frog stopping them and throwing a clod of dirt into the tunnel tripping a wire making the exit collapse. Springing from a few boxes in the room several warriors rushed out to take them with the duo smacking down the ambush quickly. The Fox crouched to the ground before looking up and shrugging. Buff Frog growled in frustration taking the lead this time with them going down another tunnel looking for signs of an exit. As they searched another warrior stumbled across them and began shouting for reinforcements before being silenced by The Fox as it smashed her in the temple. Buff Frog continued leading not slowing down in the slightest as they came across a large room, easily ten times the size of the others or more with several drakes in it and a lot of containers with supplies in them as well as guards in it.

The drakes looked at them for a second in shock before the warriors pointed to the two shouting with the drakes starting to shoot flames at them. Dodging to the sides, and getting a little singed, Buff Frog charged forward bellowing as he leapt over a Gronkel's head, grabbed onto its tail, and swung it like a cudgel at another drake. The drakes began scrambling at each other as the majority fell into a pile due to the Gronkel being thrown at them. A Nightmare tried to snap up The Fox but it threw another black egg at the Nightmare's eyes blinding it. Screeching in pain it lite itself on fire and began rampaging around the confined room setting random equipment on fire and forcing the warriors to focusing on calming down the angry beast. The duo ran out of the ruins of what they assumed was the main room charging forward looking for any path out of this damn labyrinth.

 **(restart music at 0:05)**

Buff Frog rounded another corner to see a room filled up with warriors who seemed to know they were coming and were prepared for them in a shield wall formation. The Fox hesitated for only a second before miming throwing something and pointing to itself and then at the crowd of warriors. Caught up in the action Buff Frog did not hesitate to pick up and throw The Fox into the group of warriors with it unleashing a barrage of smoke bombs into the center confusing the warriors. Buff Frog charged in and took a warrior by surprise with a head butt and took the man's hammer from him smashing another two in one swing. Charging into the smoke to come out the other side he surprisingly found few opponents he needed to smack down.

Not bothering to think about it he rejoined The Fox as they charged up ran up the tunnel looking for any sign of an exit. At that point they say another warriors running up the tunnel away from them and Buff Frog got an idea. The Fox went to chase him but Buff Frog stopped The Fox from doing so and said 'follow' as he began following the man. He had a feeling everyone was trying to gather at the exit to stop them; all they needed to do was follow him and he would give them the way out. They moved through the tunnels with the warrior they were following growing panicked and tried to knock out one of the pillars collapsing a section of the tunnel. Buff Frog and The Fox slid under the collapsing debris and emerged with Buff Frog nearly getting his lower half buried under. Passing through a room with two warriors in it The Fox didn't even look as it threw some sort of thin sticks at them striking them in the necks.

 **(Restart music at 0:05)**

As Buff Frog was beginning to worry that he might lose the warrior they finally emerged in a room with not only warriors but Baby and Dumnorix in it was well. The fox immediately pointed to one of the tunnels making Buff Frog think 'Finally, the exit!' Dumnorix immediately charged them with Buff Frog leaping in head first to engage the warrior. The two engaged in type of boxing match of all things with them seemingly being equally matched. Buff Frog, despite his size, was nimble enough to avoid many of Dumnorix's hits and those that did hit were not solid blows; at least compared to what they could have been. Dumnorix on the other hand simply tanked Buff Frog's hits not showing a sign of weakening. The Fox took on the other warriors as Kitty rang a gong letting everyone in the base know exactly where the infiltrators were.

Kitty then went to try and collapse the tunnel but The Fox threw another egg getting Kitty in the eye again making her turn on The Fox in anger. Kitty tried striking The Fox but due to her now blinded state she kept on missing and hitting her own comrades instead. Of course The Fox seemed to be able to judge Kitty's attacks and dodge them as if it knew exactly when and where Kitty would strike. As they sparred Dumnorix caught a glance at the fight and, while the lighting made it hard to read faces in the action, Buff Frog could swear he saw recognition in his expression as he watched The Fox fight Kitty. Of course he didn't waste any time thinking on it as he tossed some dirt into Dumnorix's one good eye with him muttering.

"Oh come on, everyone keeps on doing that!" Buff Frog then landed a hit on the groin and solar plexus dropping Dumnorix and turned to help out The Fox

The Fox didn't need help however as it had redirected Kitty into a wall and motioned up the tunnel. They went for it but were stopped by a line of warriors in the exit just as more began piling into the room from the other hallways readying their weapons. Surrounded, exhausted, and outnumbered Buff Frog decided to take a gamble and whispered to The Fox.

"Voz'mi menya v zalozhniki. (Take me as a hostage)" The fox nodded and without hesitation grabbed onto Buff Frog pointing the trench knives at his throat.

 **(end music)**

Absolute silence pervaded the room as everyone tried to figure out what they were supposed to do now. Looking at Baby and Dumnorix, who were both washing out their eyes in the respite, they just held their positions. Taking advantage of this The Fox directed Buff Frog, who had put on a scared expression, to move towards the exit with the warriors there just letting them through with one of them calling out.

"What do we do? Commanders what do we do?" Baby and Dumnorix looked up seeing the two backing up through the tunnel slowly with Baby calling out.

"Kill them, they're better dead then free!" Buff Frog reacted quickly and used the hammer he hadn't dropped to smash one of the pillars holding up the exit's ceiling.

He then charged up the tunnel with the Fox tossing more smoke bombs behind them to confuse the warriors right behind them. Buff Frog continued to smash pillars as he ran making sure even Baby could not catch them as they ran. Of course this caused a chain reaction as more and more of the tunnel collapsed behind them forcing them to run full speed just to keep ahead. As they approached the exit Buff Frog noticed a boulder looming up like the end of the world in front of them nervously noting they were trapped. The Fox however pulled out some sort of cloak clasp and waved it making the rock suddenly levitate allowing them to sild out just as the tunnel fully collapsed behind them.

They both paused catching their breaths and letting their adrenaline drop in the cool night air. As they finally composed themselves a screech from a gryphon got their attention with one swooping in carrying the bodies of a few Forest Barbarians in its talons. Buff Frog chuckled at this as The Fox went up to the now landed Gryphon scratching it behind its left ear speaking up.

"Well looks like you thought of everything my foxy comrade… wait…" Buff Frog looked over the Gryphon a second before realizing he knew this creature. "… Buck Beak!" The Gryphon looked at Buff Frog before squawking.

"*Well you did recognize me old friend, nice to see you again. Say how is Star doing?*" Buff Frog responded quickly.

"Oh she is doing good comrade… wait a minute what are you doing out here? And who is that?" He pointed to The Fox. Before Buck Beak could respond The Fox pulled out a blow dart gun and shot Buff Frog in the neck. "What is this, who are… you…" Buff Frog immediately felt dizzy and swayed a little as the Fox made the shushing motion with a finger just as Buff Frog fell unconscious.

* * *

The warriors filed out of the base dragging the last of the equipment behind them as Baby ranted to Dumnorix.

"We lost important documents as well as an information source, what is wrong with us? We had them trapped like fish in a barrel and… and… uragggh!" She shot some magic from the crystal in her head shattering one of the barrels a warrior was carrying spilling some sort of goo all over her. Dumnorix responded to Baby as the warrior walked through the portal her shoulders slumped as she scraped off goo.

"This is not the time for frustration, it leads to sloppiness. We need to remain cold as ice and report this to Mavis. Remember, the big raid is upcoming so we can't afford to lose focus." Baby nodded and calmed down.

"You're right. I failed this time but I will not fail there." Dumnorix smiled as he led Baby through the portal.

"That's the spirit.

* * *

Buff Frog woke up with what felt like a severe hangover as he tried to get his bearings finding himself in the castle gardens in the early morning, right next to the ruined tower in said gardens. As he tried to get up he felt something fall off of his chest and hit the ground prompting him to look and see some sort of waxed paper folder. He picked it up with the words 'Classified Information for The Queen' written on it. As he was about to open it he heard some people come his way with Eclipsa's voice ringing out.

"I just found him lying on the ground out here and I didn't want to touch him so I came for you… oh he's awake. Buff Frog dear are you alright?" He looked up to see Eclipsa had Moon and Toffee in tow with several guards behind them as he tried to respond.

"Scouting mission… was a success… I think. I have a lot to tell you." He held up the folder. "And you have a lot to read your majesty's." Moon and Toffee looked at each other in concern as Buff Frog stood up.

* * *

Buck Beak landed at the mouth of a cave with The Fox getting off of Buck Beak and bowing into the cave much like a Buddhist monk would. As it righted itself a voice rang out from the cave.

"Did you deliver what was needed and helped who needed helping?" The fox nodded as Oogway stepped out of the cave and continued speaking. "Very well my child, but your task has only just begun. They will make their next major move soon so you must be ready." Oogway looked out over the forest the cave was right next too. "Watch over our people's hope and insure that she does not come to harm." Buck Beak spoke up at this.

"*Why don't we just tell Queen Moon that Star is in danger.*" Oogway nodded understanding his sentiments.

"Because we do not know when they will strike or where. And we can't risk alerting whatever is controlling Mavis that we stand against it; secrecy is our greatest strength for now. Rest for now my children for the way is growing ever more perilous by the day."

 **OP: You do realize you resolved the 'comedic' plot at the start of the chapter right.**

 **WH: Yeah but never mind that, we got more important things to do... Janna what are you doing?**

 **Janna: *sets up a chess board with Star vs characters on it* Oh just setting up a game. Oh and that. *She pointed to a house made out of cards***

 **WH: Well... hmmm. *looks closely* No you can do this, kind of what I'm doign now. Star and MArco are about to be thrust into a perilous 'Game' of sorts where the prize is the Throne.**

 **Janna: seriously you're copying from that show?**

 **WH: First off the show was a failure given it's ending, I prefer the books, Second the basic idea of it is GOOD. Based off of 'The war of the Roses' in English history it actually tells a realistic, if exaggerated, story of political jockeying; something that Star will have to experience as she grows older. Regardless, with that coming up it's time once again for...**

 **Audience: Guest Reviews.**

 **Shiranai Atsune: This story is diverging from Seasons three and four, you'll find out how later.**

 **Unamed: Well... maybe not that far just yet; I mean they are only 14/15 man.**

 **Sugar: Thank you, and I needed to diverge from it the same way the show diverges from them at points.**

 **The Book of Eli: I actually debate whether Baby should be included or not, I did it in the end though. As for the Barbarians, that's going to take some time.**


	95. A House of Thrones pt 1

**The scene opens with Janna playing chess against Omnitraxus Prime with a score board behind them being equal in points.**

 **WH: How long have they been like that?**

 **SN: For the last three weeks waiting for an update from you. It's a multi-reality seeing entity vs a 4th wall breaking one, the ultimate conflict.**

 **WH:*Notices that chess pieces look his characters* Wait are they using my props?**

 **SN: *nods***

 **WH: Well... you know what that is just fine by me... I guess. Enjoy the episode folks.**

"*sigh*" Moon looked up at Star with amusement and understanding in her eyes as Star's dress was finished up. The tailor nodded at Moon and hurried out as Moon spoke to her daughter.

"I get it my dear MonStar but seriously you're exhaling enough air to fill a balloon per breath." Star looked down at her dress, a rather regal gown colored silver with green and purple sparkles, and replied.

"I get why I need to be here, but I just don't want to be here. The boys will be all over me simply so they can get a damn crown on their head and Marco will have to just stand there and watch." She looked at her mom with greyish-green eyes that gave off an uncomfortable burden. "Are you sure I HAVE to participate and there's not something that can get me out of this?" Moon chuckled and hugged Star careful not to smear both of their makeup as she answered.

"Oh dear…" Moon pulled back staring her eye to eye. "… I would have asked the same thing at your age even if it was for different reasons." They both giggled as they pulled apart and Star stepped off the fitting stool. "But you missed the last one and now being officially deemed the heir to Mewni you have to make these appearances. And besides Marco trusts you, I'm sure you two will share a chuckle at all the men scrambling and failing to win your approval." Star smiled a bit with the grey part of her eyes disappearing. "All you need to do is be polite and courteous to them like you would be to a stranger and nothing more; they wouldn't dare push too far, not with your father staring them down. So can you give me a smile?" Star giggled at that and smiled a bit at Moon as she chuckled and rubbed Star's head before helping her put it up in the heart fashion Moon had hers in currently. "That's my girl."

* * *

A large knight went flying through the air landing on a table in what appeared to be some sort of stone walled tavern head first. However despite the harsh landing the figure stood up revealing itself to be a dark skinned woman with purple hair who simply bellow a laugh and fixed the helmet on her head. As the group of knights and squires scattered around the tavern cheered the knight walked over and clapped Marco on the back hard enough to make him stumble as she spoke in a loud voice.

"Guess that fight in the woods wasn't just a fluk hoodie boy?" Marco laughed as he replied.

"I actually got lucky in the woods. When you're chased for several hours you tend to get tired no matter how strong you are." At that a humanoid brown bear with a unicorn horn on its head spoke up.

"Oh come on Marco, you threw Lady Whosits across the room hard enough to knock the wind out of her. That's no small feat." At that Sir Lavabo spoke up.

"I agree, whatever training you had before coming here it shows. Here here!" He raises a mug of some sort of beverage with everyone else in the room raising a beverage before drinking in turn.

"Here here!" Marco drank his dutifully hoping it wasn't alcoholic considering the night that was just ahead of them. As they set their drinks down a humanoid giraffe spoke up.

"So when are you coming to train as a squire for good?" Marco smiled as he replied.

"The final date is not set but I know it's going to be in early autumn, this autumn." At this Buff Frog spoke up.

"He is right on that one, gotten from the king himself." Everyone nodded with Higgs speaking up.

"If you do get the chance to pick the knight you squire for don't go for Sir Stabby as you will never become a knight under his training." At this a dark skinned knight with brownish-red colored hair, Sir Stabby, spoke up.

"You still sore about what I put you through? I only wanted you to be the best knight you could be." As Higgs went to reply Sir Lavabo spoke up.

"She appreciated her training and it was necessary I know that. But you tend to repeat the same basic lessons when other squires have already become serviceable knights within the same training time. Also you tend to be a bit…" As Sir Lavabo looked for the right word a muscular green skinned humanoid with deer antlers and a beard spoke up.

"Unnecessarily harsh." Everyone nodded at that with Sir Stabby flicking his hair a little before reluctantly in agreement as he replied.

"You do have a point Lavabo and Beard Deer. But in my defense this was not only my first squire but Higgs we're talking about." Beard Deer nodded and agreed.

"That's fair." As Higgs went to respond to that one Lavabo spoke up.

"He does have a point, you did tend to complain at first when I set you on routine maintenance tasks." Higgs hesitated before replying.

"I get I'm supposed to help out with everyday tasks a knight has to do as knights just have to do them… but Sir Stabby got it across poorly." Beard Deer replied to that.

"Also fair." As the knights conversed with each other Marco leaned over to Whosits and spoke to her.

"I thought Higgs squired for a Sir Slasher?" Whosits laughed at that and replied.

"You got that info from Buff Frog didn't you?" Marco hesitated before nodding. "The man is tough and skilled as well as a natural leader but he's not so good with remembering names. He still sometimes calls me Whatsit." Marco chuckled along with her at that as a pale skinned old man with greyish-green eyes who was going bald on the top with a long grey beard spoke up to them.

"Must be a big thing leavin your world behind for this?" Marco nodded as the man smiled. "Oh I do believe we have not been introduced yet, Sir Bronn or as many refer to me Sir 'Old guy'." Marco chuckled as he shook his hand. "So think ya can make it in our world without gettin fucked over ten-fold?" Marco chuckled nervously as he replied as the man intimidated him slightly despite his short stature.

"Well considering what Star has pulled me into at times I can say if I'm not ready then nothing can prepare me." Bronn gave a hearty laugh and clapped Marco on the back with the same force Whosits had before speaking.

"Now that's an appropriate response. So what's your view on her and for that matter her family?" Marco rubbed the back of his head as he haltingly replied.

"Well Star is my best friend so that goes without saying. To-The King…" The chuckles for the two knights made Marco relax a little before he continued. "Toffee is sort of like my sensei back on earth but his demeanor can be rather intimidating if he wants it to be." The duo nodded at that. "As for Moon, she's a nice person and is actually really cool although she too can be intimidating. She hunts things that could destroy an entire town single handed just to relive stress." At this Bronn spoke up again.

"Ya met the queen's cousin Helsinki?" Marco nodded breathing out some air as he answered.

"Oh yeah, she stayed at my house for two days and that was nearly enough to break the whole thing down without any explosions." The trio laughed at that as Bronn replied.

"So on Helsinki… would ya fuck er?" Marco blinked in shock not really sure if the guy was serious or not. A quick look at Whosits unperturbed face told him this was rather normal shocking him even more.

"Well… I… um… no." Bronn seemed a bit disappointed as he replied.

"Well I'd fuck er. She's one wild and crazy woman and would make many a knight remember that night." Marco stood their mortified as the duo laughed at Bronn's words with Whosits commenting.

"Although remember this hoodie boy, never take a woman or a man without their consent as it just shows your own weakness." Bronn nodded in consent.

"Indeed, no pleasure greater then taking someone who wants to be taken; save for killin someone who wants to kill you just as much." Marco had shaken off his shock at this point realizing this was just locker room talk, something groups did when they were alone and while often graphic was rather harmless. Honestly considering he was part of this showed that he was accepted into their group. Their revelry was cut short however when the door to the knight's 'lounge' was opened up with Butler and Manfred standing at the door with Manfred speaking up.

"The dance shalt commence within the hour. Ready yourselves to be the honor guard." At that Buff Frog spoke up.

"Hear that, is time to put on a show people." Marco nodded as the knights gave out a mixture of a cheer and a groan. As he went to put on the ceremonial wear provided for him however Butler pulled him aside.

"Marco, his majesty King Toffee wishes to have you stand at attention by him for the event. He has some things he wishes to explain to you about your future duties to Mewni. " Marco nodded and went to get changed now getting a feeling as to why Star's parents wanted him to attend this event in the first place.

 **SN: One transition later.**

Marco glanced in the nearby display suits of armor and mirrors as he moved with the other knights to the main ballroom. According to Butler the event, known as the Silver Bell Ball, was not taking place here but actually at a place called the Silver Thorn Palace. 'Building up silver a bit much aren't we?' Marco thought to himself wryly as Manfred opened a portal with the knights filing through it. Marco took one last look at himself admiring how good he actually looked before moving through the portal. He was wearing a type of ceremonial chest and shoulder plate with a sky blue cape and a Japanese style helmet identical to the other knights that seemed more designed to look good then to block damages. Shaking that off preparing for the likely lesson for the night with Toffee he heard a voice call out to the group of knights as they had just emerged.

"Hail and well met warriors of Her Majesty." Marco noted some of the knights repressed groans as they turned towards who had called out to them. "Tis a pleasure to see the knights of Mewni out in arms to stand at the attention of the royal family." Marco turned to see who had called out and upon seeing the man who had called out… was not sure what to think in the slightest. While he was dressed up in what Star had explained was royal garb, specifically a blue suit with tasseled shoulders, and accompanied by a small retinue of followers and guards he seemed surprisingly normal looking. Blond hair and blue eyes on a surprisingly normal looking face that held an inviting smile with no cheek marks. 'So he's not a Butterfly family member, I know that much.' "Pardon me but I heard a rumor that the so called 'Shadow Slayer' was to be here tonight, guardian and guide of the royal princess who excelled at the trial of the squires. Is that true?" Manfred, who had accompanied the knights here, spoke up.

"Indeed he is. Marco, please step forward to address your superior." The knights and squires parted ways allowing him to step forward with Marco doing so hesitantly before bowing and speaking.

"A pleasure to meet you… uh my liege." The man, who seemed more like a teenager only a few years older than Marco, chuckled seemingly pleased at his display as he replied.

"Well it seems you have been taught proper manners already despite having come from earth." 'So he is a stereotypical noble.' Marco thought to himself in slight annoyance as he righted himself. "But taking a look at you I am still finding it a bit hard to believe that you accomplished all that everyone has claimed you have." Marco repressed an eye roll as he replied.

"If you wish for confirmation just ask my fellow knights and squires what they experienced." An untrained eye would not have caught it but Marco saw a few of the man's followers give him sharp looks like they wanted to say something sharp but thought better of it after glancing at Buff Frog. The man nodded seemingly satisfied with his answer as he replied.

"Well squires and knights never lie about their comrades, no reason for them to do so." He then seemed to remember something. "Do you mayhap know who I am; being from earth you may not be properly educated in that manner quite yet." Marco seemed to catch on that the man was giving off an air of being courteous but was being tongue in cheek about it in a condescending way. Marco hesitated for a second as he accounted for all of this with the man introducing himself. "Lord Montague Hatter of house Hatter, future Archduke of the kingdom of Mewni and fiancé to Princess Star Butterfly." Marco immediately felt as if he was slapped in the face and dunked in cold water. "She has been on earth under your care and I do thank you for taking care of her my lad." Marco was fairly certain if Montague was close enough he would have patted Marco on the head like a dog; but that thought was only in passing as Marco' s next words were entirely reactionary.

"Star never mentioned you to me before!" At this Montague's entire retinue stared him down as Montague waved Marco's words off.

"At ease men, like I said he has not been given a full education yet." The shock left Marco leaving him with an intense dislike for the future archduke that was partially based in jealousy. "Mayhap the princess was not inclined to talk about it as it has not been officially announced yet. But I see no reason to not mention it to the child she picked up on the streets." His smile did not waver in the slightest as he walked up to Marco and outright did pat him on the head with Buff Frog speaking up.

"Lord Hatter, that is a squire to the king himself not a dog for you to demean with that action." Marco was kind of indifferent to it as multiple people had been doing this with a shocking regularity but he found himself smiling as the other knights and squires agreed with Buff Frog. One of Montague's followers immediately stepped forward and spoke to the crowd.

"Watch your place _guards_ and don't forget who the master here is." The knights grumbled to themselves at what Marco thought might have been an insult as he replied to that with a small grin.

"That would be Queen Moon Butterfly." Everyone looked at him with Montague stopping his patting. "Also considering she would only pick the best man for her daughter Her Majesty would likely be very vocal about your engagement to Star wouldn't she? Or are you forgetting your place and being too presumptive?" That last part was somewhat unintentional but Marco couldn't hold himself back; and the snickers from a few of the knights and squires let him know he had earned their respect, again.

"You watch your place dog! As this is…" Montague held up his hand silencing one of his retinue removing his hand as he replied.

"Indeed she is Marco, but I am not forgetting my place." The smile was still there but now the man's gaze was steely as he focused down on Marco. "The queen will choose when and where and further more _to whom_ she will speak with this about. So don't forget your place yourself as if you do…" He leaned down so he was face to face with Marco. "… well, let's just say I eat belligerent little shits for breakfast." He turned and began walking away with Marco feeling the words leave his mouth and being unable to stop them.

"You eat shit for breakfast?"

Absolute silence pervaded the entire crowd as all eyes were locked on Marco and Montague as the two of them struggled to comprehend what Marco had just said. Montague turned ready to berate him but the look on his face made it really clear he had gotten himself into this mess and Marco had by chance actually asked a legitimate question. He glanced back at his retinue with everyone just as confused as he was. Marco didn't dare look away from Montague due to multiple reasons as he waited for his reaction. Finally Montague did answer in a meek if demure fashion.

"Umm… no. That was just an expression." He then walked away with his retinue composing himself with Higgs coming up next to Marco.

"Do you know exactly who you just sent packing?" Marco shook his head no as Higgs smiled. "One of the most powerful men in Mewni, powerful enough that even the king and queen tread lightly around him." Marco blinked in shock again still trying to fully grasp what was going on Butler came up to him.

"Sir, Master Toffee still requires your presence when you are ready." Marco nodded at that and followed Butler with the other knights and squires giving him smirks and thumbs up at how he acted. "My suggestion master Marco, tread lightly around master Montague in the future as you may not be so lucky and he may not be so forgiving next time." He then flashed Marco a large smile. "But well done; in my own opinion sometimes the lords need to be cut down to size." Marco chuckled and fell silent as he finally took in the Silver Thorn Palace.

It was a long rectangular building with silvery columns of marble rising up all along the length of the palace with ornate designs over them framing tall stained glass windows. He could tell that the first of three floors took up more than half the height of the building from the size of the windows which let a glow of light come from making it seem like the windows and columns themselves were glowing. The large entry way was made out of some sort of granite with blue flecks polished to a sheen that had Marco impressed even for an ornate place like this. And in front of the whole palace was a rotunda for carriages to cycle around dropping off guests, which is what was going on now, with a small pool in the center ringed with cattails and holding some sort of swan like creatures bearing feathers shimmering with rainbows like fish scales. Marco took this all in awe as he walked alongside Butler who spoke to him in a chiding manner with a bit of humor.

"I get it is impressive master Marco but mayhap you close that mouth before something decides to take residence in it?" Marco shut his mouth as Butler chuckled leading Marco up the red carpet covered stairs into the ballroom.

* * *

Star stared across the ballroom both nervous and yet bored at the same time as she sat down on her side of the room. The large ballroom currently had chairs set up on all four sides in distinctive groups for the event tonight: one group for the young female royalty, one for the young male royalty, one for non-participating royal families and guests from neighboring kingdoms, and one for the Butterfly family. Star had attended this event in the past but did not have good memories of it with being 'club snubbed' a good deal of the time… 'Amongst other memories' she thought to herself. And now, especially given the way many of the young male royalty were looking at her, it was likely going to be the exact opposite for the wrong reasons. Of course as she noticed some of her friends were already at her side she admitted it could have been far worse. Ponyhead and Alexis went up to sit alongside her with Ponyhead speaking up in her typical fashion.

"Hey gurl, what's up?" Star smiled as she responded.

"Well not much, nice to see you two here." Alexis replied to that.

"Well plenty is up on our end, just not much that's important. Did you hear how Tad tried getting back together with Kelly?" Star rolled her eyes but secretly relished the gossip for once to take her mind off of tonight.

"Let me guess, they got back together with Tad having 'improved' upon himself just enough for Kelly to accept him?" Ponyhead shook her head as she replied.

"No, after a single test date Kelly said it was well and truly over." Star blinked in shock at this bit of information. "Although Tad has since refused to move out of her hair with Kelly refusing to force him to move." Alexis added onto this.

"This is either the end of them for good or the turnaround point for Tad, don't know which yet." As Star nodded to that another voice called out to Star.

"Hey Star, long time no see." Star turned around smiling to see another friend of hers sitting close by. She appeared a year or two older then Star with soft green eyes, black hair, a somewhat tan complexion, and wearing a white and black dress decorated with spider webs, both artificial and real.

"Hey Penelope, sorry for the long absence but I was on earth." Penelope Spiderbite nodded and shrugged as Star noticed something. "Wait, where's your spiderbite?" Alexis and Ponyhead giggled as Penelope blushed and scratched right above her right eye before responding.

"I got it fixed… by this really cute guy. His name is Darren… Darren Aloe." Penelope then caught the eye of someone on the other side of the room and waved shyly. Star looked over to see a green humanoid slime wearing a rather spiffy black suit, looking like it had been treated to withstand slime and other liquids, and a purple beanie hat was waving in reply to her. Star smiled as spoke up at this.

"Nice, how'd you two meet?" Ponyhead butted in on this in her typical fashion.

"At the Bounce Lounge of course. She thought he was hitting on her but he just wanted to clear up her spider bite. After that the two hit it off and boom, home run on the first date." Star blinked in shock at that and looked at Penelope who nodded meekly blushing a bit more profusely. "I'm a bit surprised your parents were ok with it honestly. No offense B-fly and A-gurl but lots of people are still against *ahem* mixed couples." Alexis and Star nodded in acknowledgement to this with Alexis speaking up.

"I think it's because he's technically royalty to the second most powerful Monster clan. Right?" Penelope actually shook her head before replying.

"No it's actually because he helped clear up all of our spider bites, even if they were in some unpleasant places." The quartet shuddered slightly. "To blatantly change the subject, is the shadow slayer really going to be here tonight?" Star blinked in confusion as Ponyhead responded.

"Shadow sla- oh you mean earth turd." Star blinked in confusion as she responded.

"Wait, that's what Marco is called here?" Penelope blinked before responding.

"Well not earth tur-"

"No no no, Shadow Slayer?" Penelope nodded a bit confused.

"Well yeah, he did defeat two rouge shadows along-side the Shadow knights of Queen Moon to rescue you from the traitorous Mavis. It's actually become quite a popular story after your mom announced he would be made a squire." Star blinked and nodded remembering when that did actually happen with them.

"Yes Princess, is it true that he is coming?" Star felt a twin tinge of fear and annoyance roll up her spine as she recognized the voice. She turned to look at a girl about her age with calf length blond hair done up in the heart shaped manner over pale skin and brilliant sapphire eyes and wearing a silver and white dress. For some reason the girl now elicited a strange feeling of Déjà vu in Star that irked her as she responded in a polite tone.

"Yes he is Sophia." Sophia smiled and curtseyed to Star as she replied.

"It will be a pleasure to meet him I have no doubt. And I must congratulate you on your engagement to Montague Hatter, not many better men out there." This revelation struck Star by the wayside as she blinked in shock with Ponyhead speaking up annoyed.

"Gurl you got hitched to the Hatter boy? What happened to ear-" Alexis shoved a cupcake into Ponyhead's mouth, 'Where did Alexis get a cupcake?' Star thought to herself, as she responded to Sophia as best she could.

"I… have no idea what you are talking about?" The girls listening in on their conversation giggled at this with Sophia smiling even more as she responded.

"Well ever since your relationship with Prince Lucitor went south, curses onto that ruffian's name, other boys have been eager for your hand in marriage." The girls listening in on them giggled again making Star grit her teeth. "And after you got your family's wand and was sent to earth Archduke Hatter has worked with your parents to arrange a proper marriage. Supposedly it's to be formally announced tonight." Star felt herself in free fall at hearing this.

'Mom and Dad did… wait no they wouldn't do that. Dad likes Marco and Mom not only likes Marco but hates the idea of an arranged marriage even when it's needed. Besides which, that would make the invitation for Marco a bit strange.'

* * *

 _"… So you will have to attend this one Star." Star nodded grumbling a little as Moon and Toffee called Star who had Marco with her as Toffee explained the situation. "Oh and Marco will be attending as well as one of the royal guard." Star and Marco looked at Toffee in shock and went to answer but were cut off. "I know that seems strange but I believe it is time to properly introduce Marco into our world." Star rolled her eyes as she replied._

 _"As if hunting him like a wild animal wasn't enough." Toffee averted his gaze as if saying 'My aren't the walls vertical today' as Marco spoke up._

 _"He was just inducting me like he would any other squire Star, it wasn't personal. If it was I would be dead right now." Moon chuckled before speaking up._

 _"Trust me dear this is important and necessary. Nothing is going to happen tonight… right?" Moon glanced at Toffee who looked at Star as he responded._

 _"I don't plan on anything and will try to prevent anything from happening. You have my word as your father and as a king." Star huffed satisfied as he continued. "Butler will collect you in order to prepare for the evening so be ready by…"_

* * *

"I do believe you are mistaken." Everyone looked at Star in confusion as she calmly smiled at Sophia. "My parents would let me know if this was the case and they have not. Perhaps you heard that he is one of the candidates for my hand." Star shuddered saying that like her love was a trophy to be hunted but her disarming smile pushed Sophia off balance with her struggling to respond. Ironically she was saved by Ponyhead who spoke up having eaten through her cupcake.

"Hey there's earth turd now." Everyone turned to look at Marco as he was being led by Butler into the room separately of the other knights and guards. Star took in the sight of Marco liking how well he pulled of the Royal guard show uniform. Of course that thought was immediately soured by the compliments the other girls began giving him.

"Oh he's more handsome then I thought he would be."

"It's like he was born to wear that uniform."

"He has a mole, and it's cute."

"He… seems kind of familiar to me for some reason."

Star noticed that last one had some Princess Turdina merchandise on her and repressed a chuckle at that one. Of course she also had to repress the urge to run over to Marco and hold onto him like a Koala especially when Sophia spoke up with 'interest' in her voice.

"He does seem rather impressive in that outfit. Mayhap you should introduce us to each other." Star tried to suppress the deathly glare she directed at Sophie but was unable to when Sophia glanced in her direction. After a moment of confusion Sophia giggled with her hand over her mouth. "Oh getting protective are we?" Star didn't hold back as she let the words come from her mouth.

"Of course, he's my bestie right next to Ponyhead and Alexis. So excuse me for being a might bit protective given your history, Ms. Rose of the Garden sisters." At this Ponyhead, Alexis, and Penelope 'ooohhh'd' while the other girls immediately ignored them as Sophia's smile left her face responding in a cool manner.

"After all these years you still hold that over me. *tsk* And here I have grown up yet you haven't. Hopefully Montague can help you out with that." As she walked away Star unclenched her jaw and let out a held breath as Penelope spoke to her.

"Are you really still holding that over her?" Star nodded as Alexis chimed in.

"Why wouldn't she. Despite claims to the contrary Sophia's character hasn't changed in the slightest." A bell rang out with everyone going to their seats if they weren't there already with Marco taking his place next to the King's left hand. Star could tell they were talking about something and could only wonder what her dad was trying to teach Marco here of all places.

 **WH: Time once again for...**

 **Audience: Guest Reviews!**

 **The Book of Eli: Indeed, but not in the way you might imagine.**

 **Sugar: And that was just ONE pf the assassination attempts Star doesn't know about. Thank you and you will find out who 'The Fox' is eventually... if I can write faster. *visible frustration***

 **Unnamed 1: Indeed it is crossover gold; just the way I like it to glitter.**

 **The Opininator: Nice ideas, but my story is a bit too different to really incorporate those ideas too much.**

 **Unnamed 2: I sort of answered your question in this chapter but yeah, Star was not too happy with that.**


	96. A House of Thrones pt 2

**WH: Side note people, a little backstory on how I started writing. I originally started as a Dungeon Master in Dungeons and Dragons because I love world building and I'm really good at it. Ironically it was character development that came to me last when it came to writing. So I wanted to build the lands of Mewni, as is my innate desire, but how to do it realistically and to make sense. Then I realized, Marco needs to learn about it so why not have him learn about it in person? Well, that's what this chapter is, nothing but world building. Now I do apologize if it sounds too muck like a text book but there's really no other way to paint a picture of the world without images unfortunately. So, if thsi is not your thing I apologize but I did try to mix it up. Anyways on with the show.**

 **Oh and one more thing, to the people who keep on messaging me to 'do more please'... stop making me cry *sob* if you do that too often it makes me sad that I'm not doign this faster like how I used too! *sob***

 **Janna: Oh now you've done it! If his sobbing wasn't so damn hilarious I'd smack you silly!**

 **SN: Anyways, on with the story.**

"Marco, I must say you dress up rather nicely." Marco chuckled and rubbed the back of his head as he replied.

"Thank you To- Your Majesty." Marco bowed to him and went to stand at his left side like an honor guard. As he did so Toffee nodded in approval of him both addressing him as your majesty and where he was standing.

"When we are in public like this you are to address myself, Moon, and Star as Your Majesty for official purposes but I see you figured that out already Marco." Toffee smiled at him briefly before going back to his normal monotone expression. "I suppose you are wondering why I asked you to come here and why I wished for you to stand at attention at my side." Marco nodded and spoke.

"Yes and an additional question your majesty. I heard a rumor from a certain… I think his name is Montague that he was-"

"Engaged to my daughter?" Marco blinked in shock as Toffee rolled his eyes. "Of course Archduke Hatter would try to spread that rumor to try and push Star towards his son. Although admittedly if Star had never gone to earth I would at least have seen if Star and Montague would have gotten along with each other." Marco couldn't keep the shocked look off of his face as Toffee sighed slightly. "I know that look Marco and I will say this now, though we would not have liked it, if you had not come into her life Star's position and our society's current state would have forced our hands eventually." He fixed Marco with a stern sideways glance. "A person in my daughter's position is in a hotly contested area in our society especially now. Are you familiar with what your culture would call a medieval system and how it works?" Marco nodded and spoke up.

"Yes your majesty. My mom actually pushed some of that information on me a bit forcibly." Toffee chuckled at that as he replied.

"Well this is going to be easier for you then because that is why you are here tonight; to learn about how the kingdom of Mewni works and its relations with other nations and races." At those words a light bell tinkled drawing their attention towards Moon who stood a little distance away speaking up as the crowd silenced and seated themselves.

"Good evening everyone and welcome to the 21st biannual Silver Bell Ball. It is a pleasure that all of you could attend whether it be our own nobility in service to us…" She nodded to one rather large group of adults, mostly Mewmans, who nodded back to her. "… or foreign dignitaries come to partake in tonight's festivities." Moon nodded to a far smaller group of individuals who were far more varied in race who nodded back. "Let this event let it be known of the peace that exists between us and the hopes for the future…" Toffee spoke up to Marco as Moon talked to the crowd.

"The basic gist of the speech is this event is meant to solidify alliances between that nations attending and to keep the peace. Originally this event was for only The Butterfly family and foreign nations that had close ties to the Butterfly kingdom as an annual affair but Moon opened it up to a far larger spectrum when all foreign kingdoms south of the Gorge Mountains were invited as well as all of the nobility serving under the Butterfly family. We also made it a biannual affair as many nations could not make the original set date to participate." Marco nodded absorbing all this in.

"So what actually happens here?" Toffee nodded with a smile.

"Quick to learn and move on? I see you are just as intelligent as your grades say you are." Marco chuckled as Toffee got serious. "Originally it was meant to be a ceremonial reassurance of peace but now with so many nobility in attendance it has become a hot bed for political intrigue. Various noble families and foreign powers use their children to send messages to each other and solidify alliances and make deals based on what happens during the main dances." Marco raised his eyebrow at this.

"So this is like Game of Thrones?" Toffee raised his eyebrow at this. "It's basically a tv show, I think based on a book series, which delves into the political jockeying of a medieval world. My mom and dad won't let me watch as it's for mature audiences but that doesn't stop me at times. It's actually pretty good although some people are saying that in its sixth season it's starting to decline…" Toffee stopped Marco before responding.

"Believe it or not I do know what you are talking about Marco, and yes it is just like that. Which means you know fully well why you must step carefully as this is real life?" Marco nodded solemnly but felt a cold sweat suddenly break out as he realized just how close to it he might have come with Montague. "Well you are going to have to get used to it as this will be part of your everyday life so close to the throne." 'No wonder Star likes to avoid big gatherings if this is what she has to attend.' Marco thought to himself as Toffee continued. "Regardless, back to this event. Details of the dance matter to the extreme whether it is what partner is chosen, who approaches whom first, what dance they approach each other in, to the after dance kiss." Marco blinked in confusion on the last one with Toffee not missing a beat. "I will explain what all the parts mean when the first dance begins so we can have a visual explanation so be patient. Any questions so far?" Marco nodded speaking up.

"So how do you fit into this event?" Toffee chuckled as he gestured to the Butterfly family which was sitting just below the King's and Queen's seats.

"Traditionally the king of Mewni was merely a ceremonial head that had no power to speak of which is why I am to the queen's left instead of her right and have no real part in this event aside from 'looking good'. This is why I am able to educate you about this event as I technically have no part." Marco nodded as Toffee gave a wry grin. "Of course that didn't stop Moon from allowing me to participate in the politics of Mewni in other ways. In some manners I would say I am better then Moon at political scheming when needed." At this Toffee signed getting Marco's attention. "My shining Moon has a generous heart, a noble bearing, a good moral compass, and a revolutionary spirt but those will only get you so far in this world. And in some cases can get you killed if you're not careful." Marco remained silent as Toffee seemed to shake off his sudden mood. "Which is why I will be there to insure those jackals amongst the nobility don't hurt or trick them. Can I rely on you to do the same?" Marco nodded quickly with Toffee offering him a small smile as Moon finished up the introductory speech with Manfred speaking up.

"Let the dance of Spring begin." Toffee nodded to the dance floor as music was played with Marco seeing all the young nobility get up and move into something similar to a circle with Toffee explaining.

"There are several dances that will go on over the course of the evening the first being the dance of Spring. This is one that is meant to symbolize a renewal of the peace but is used as a preliminary for establishing new alliances or deals and for mending past grievances between houses and families. This is honestly the most simple of them with if a child accepts a dance from someone happily it means that past grievances will be forgiven. If they accept it coolly it means that they will overlooked for the time being. And if the dance is refused it's a sign that the approaching party needs to sweeten the deal before past grievances can be forgiven or overlooked." Marco took in Toffee's words and watched the royalty dance in a circular and swirling group manner like that he had heard from his mother occurred during festivals. As he watched the dancing royalty he actually got a vague feeling on who was dealing with whom as he asked several questions.

"What does it mean if you ask someone for a dance and how does Star fit into this?" Toffee nodded acknowledging Marco was already asking good questions.

"Here the asking itself means nothing as it is a group effort but in later dances it will mean various things. As for my daughter all she has to do is graciously accept dances for the time being to show the goodwill of the Butterfly family towards our allies and vassals." Marco nodded as he picked up Star who was dancing with various people and while she looked like she was enjoying herself Marco could tell that she was uncomfortable here; and the male members who got a little too close to her told him why. 'Seriously it's not anything special people; don't take Star's friendliness the wrong way.' "*Ahem*" Marco turned towards Toffee who fixed with a stern if understanding look. "Don't stare too hard at the princess; while no ear can hear us keen eyes watch us." Marco looked around the room seeing several nobility glance their way a bit too frequently and avoid Marco's and Toffee's gazes. "And remember, cool as ice. The boys down there won't try anything too much lest they anger the king and queen for being to… presumptive." Marco nodded and felt the cold sweat return as he replied.

"So… what are the other dances?" Toffee nodded as he answered Marco.

"Well in order they are known as The dance of Stone, The dance of The Forest, The dance of Steel, and the dance of Butterflies. Each dance has a symbolic purpose that relates to the unification of peace of the nation's here today although realistically they represent different types of deals being made. For instance the dance of Stone so meant to symbolically show the kinship of the lords with each other and their friendship with foreign allies of the Butterfly family. Realistically they are used to solidify alliances with each other and build trust for future arrangements. When a noble approaches another it is a sign of friendship with that house approaching another with humble deference and depending on the situation approaching to ask for a dance can be conveyed as a sign of subservience. Which is often not a good thing if you are not another's vassal as it can convey meekness although hits like that can be taken. Typically nobles find out about whether or not their request will be accepted in the current dance but at times an outright refusal to dance can occur. It's rare though as here it is considered a great insult so I highly doubt you will see one of those. The amount of time danced and the type of dance they do determine just how deep the friendship goes and how much they can rely on each other, but carefully done as everyone can see the exchange if they look hard enough." At this the dance concluded with the children all bowing to each other and the adults clapping with Moon speaking up after ringing the bell.

"The Dance of Spring has concluded. Let us now begin the dance of Stone to show the strength of our friendship." Toffee spoke to Marco as the music began again.

"Now there are quite a lot of lower nobility so this dance usually takes a while and can get a little… messy with people asking each other to dance and what not." At this Marco realized one important thing Toffee had not yet covered.

"Wait, why are they all doing this through a dance. Wouldn't it be easier and more secure to just sit down and talk about these things?" Toffee threw Marco a lopsided grin as he responded.

"That's detail work; this is mostly to determine the actual relationships between houses. Besides you can't really go into another lord's house unless if he is either your vassal or you are invited to visit. And though many do have scissors they still bring retinues with them which take up space and resources so it's not an easy affair. It's easier to settle these things out in formal events like this." Marco nodded sort of getting it. "Any questions while we wait for the later dances Marco?" Marco pondered all this as The dance of Stone went on in the background just trying to wrap his mind around what Toffee had told him so far.

Just one year ago the most intense things he worked on were his plans on how to win Jackie over and perfecting his Karate so he could beat Jeremy. Usually it was hanging out with his friends or getting good grades so he built up a good future for himself as was pushed onto him by his extended family. Now however he was participating in a real life game of thrones and getting lessons from his princess half-lizard girlfriend's father on how to understand it. 'My life really has changed ever since I met Star.' Marco thought to himself with a rue smile as he noticed Toffee was now looking at him oddly.

"S-sorry your majesty. Just taking in how much my life has changed over these last few months." Toffee nodded and chuckled at that as Moon began saying something in the background.

"I can see why, kind of hits you all at once doesn't it?" Marco chuckled in return.

"But I do have a question. Who are the noble families who are your vassals?" Toffee gave a lopsided grin with a raised eyebrow as he replied.

"If we had a week I would be unable to detail all of the houses and what their standing is so I'm going to just give you the basics." Marco blinked in confusion as Toffee's grin only seemed to grow this time. "What you thought this would be simple? This is going to be anything but." Marco nodded as Toffee's face went Monotone again and he gestured out over the crowd as Manfred made announcements during the dance. "Beneath the Butterfly family there are currently 186 royal houses or families that make up the hierarchy of the kingdom of Mewni consisting of both Mewmans and Monsters. For now you only need to know 5 of them: House Avarius, House Forest, House Miner, House Spiderbite, and House Hatter. They are the 5 Archduchies that answer directly to Queen Moon herself and oversee the realm and lesser lords in her stead. Beneath them are a myriad of different hierarchies with some answering directly to the five houses and others answering to those above them. The hierarchy is… complicated with a myriad of titles including, in order of title from most to least influential: Archdukes, Jarls, Pfalzgrafs, Viscounts, Monster chiefs, Dukes, Herzogs, Fürstin, Marquise, Margraves, Count Palatines, Counts, Earls, Waldgrafs, Burgraves, Castellan, Châtelains, Thanes, Barons, Freiherr, Lenderman, Baronets, feudal Barons, Eques, Ritters, Seigneur, and Lords. Technically knights are included between Barons and Eques but Moon has changed them from nobility into soldiers directly in service to the crown with no lords separating them for loyalty reasons. And there are other noble titles as well although those are just honors and don't come with responsibilities or rewards. Any questions?" Toffee looked at Marco whose eyes were spinning in their sockets as he swayed a little before replying.

"Yeah, how much of this is going to be on the test?" Toffee chuckled as he replied.

"I wouldn't worry about that Marco, nor should you worry about the nobility beneath the Lords who just earned a title for good service to the crown." Marco looked at Toffee a bit unsure. "Honestly you likely won't have to deal with them but you will need to deal with the Archduchies directly most of the time so those you will need to remember." Marco nodded dumbly at this. "So, at risk of sounding like a history tutor, would you like me to elaborate on those houses or cover the foreign nations you will likely be dealing with in the future first? Please note, knowing the relations with foreign powers can help provide context for knowing more about our own noble houses." Marco wrapped his head around all this putting information to the side to be properly digested later before answering.

"Perhaps the foreign nations then." Toffee smiled and nodded as he gestured to the small crowd Moon had nodded to in the beginning that was diverse in species.

"Well first off, our relations with foreign powers are a bit… strained due to recent activity in Mewni ever since Moon ascended. Starting about 4 years after The Red Winter, you are aware of what that was right?" Marco nodded remembering Star's lesson from when he first visited Mewni 'God that seems like a lifetime ago' Marco thought to himself. "Well Moon's rebellion and the Red Winter sent shockwaves of change out across the entire continent reverberating most strongly directly around Mewni itself. By tradition the Queen of the kingdom of Mewni herself is actually a spiritual High Queen that other nations and rulers are meant to look up to as an example to follow. Naturally with her taking down The Shadow Clause, making Monsters and Mewmans equal, establishing a democratic senate, establishing a judicial system meant to interpret laws without political agendas, initiating a multitude of reforms, and taking a Monster for her husband this had some extreme consequences." Marco nodded knowing what Toffee probably meant by that. "Commoners, be they Mewmans or Monsters, began rising up against their rulers in outrage at how they could be treated vs how they were being treated. I will not go into details about what is going on beyond our scope in the lower lands, those areas south of Rimal Bayda' and Ticalla Jungle, but let's just say at times it can get…" Marco nodded speaking up.

"I get the idea. We've had similar situations on earth, the most well-known being The French Revolution and the Communist Revolution in Russia." Toffee sighed and nodded as he continued.

"Well directly around the kingdom of Mewni many different groups and nations wished to join with The Kingdom of Mewni so they tried to join with us. The issue is sometimes there are nations between them and us and many of their own number are against the idea. Civil wars erupt, violence occurs when groups try to flee to Mewni through nations, and even outside groups illegally back The Forest Barbarians actions. Naturally Moon and I both came to the conclusion to interfere if we could, not just to keep people safe from the violence but to secure our own border and insure The Forest Barbarians receive no aid. This has led a series of nasty border wars when nations opposed to Moon's ideals refused to give up without a fight." Toffee sighed and looked at Moon with a sad wistful expression. "Every single one of those conflicts weighs Moon down just a little more when negotiations don't work; she knows they're necessary but she hates doing it." Marco looked at Moon and then at Toffee before speaking.

"If there are so many 'wars' going on how can Moon claim that it's peace time?" Toffee nodded his monotone expression returning as he answered.

"Technicalities my dear Diaz. Moon is quite willing to sue for peace at any given time so long as certain terms are met, quite logical and reasonable ones according to everyone. One of those terms is to hold a democratic election of every person in the nation, noble or commoner, Mewman and Monster, whether to join with The Kingdom of Mewni or not. 9 times out of 10 if Moon has to interfere it means that the people will elect to join with Mewni; especially when I send people out to 'campaign' for the common vote." Marco looked at Toffee with shock as Toffee continued unperturbed. "Sometimes the nation will refuse the vote and try to fight back, with predictable results as they are likely fighting amongst themselves at this point. And in the rare instance they are peaceful AND vote to remain a separate state they remain one. Of course we keep a close eye on them in insure they aren't aiding criminals or Forest Barbarians or even making sneak attacks at us. Often times this awkward set up can even result in an entire nation being surrounded by Mewni which can make things awkward if they are against the ideas of the new world especially if they lack land area. Of course they are free to join whenever they wish which we do remind them of if they are not happy with the current situation." At this point Marco was looking at Toffee in a new light yet again, although this time it wasn't an especially good one. Political maneuvering, interfering with other nations politics, messing with elections, and even hinting at bullying smaller nations into joining with Mewni. Those new thoughts ran through Marco's head as he spoke up.

"Your majesty… with all due respect…" Toffee glanced at Marco raising an eyebrow making him shiver a little. "… isn't this…" Toffee responded before he answered the question.

"Potentially illegal and immoral?" Marco blinked in confusion as Toffee nodded looking back out into the crowd. "Marco, how many times has Star's life been threatened through assassination alone?" Marco blinked at went to respond but Toffee cut him off. "Hint, Star herself doesn't know the actual answer." It took all of Marco's will power to keep himself from going slack in shock. "You heard three from her with an additional one with the shadow knights correct?" Marco nodded dumbly. "Correction, with those 4 it equals 23." Now Marco's jaw went wide but he quickly shut it knowing he was being watched. "And those were just direct attempts against my daughter; do you know how many schemes have been plotted against the Butterfly family since Moon took the throne? Hundreds, and many by the very nations Moon wants to help bring peace too." He looked at Marco eye to eye with a cold calculating indifference that made Marco shiver. "And many will fly your way even when you are just 'a squire' to the king. You cannot afford to always take the moral high ground if you wish to get things done here Marco and I know you didn't 'sign up' for this but by being so close to my daughter it's something that occurs automatically." Marco nodded feeling a bit numb as the implications sunk in. They watched the dancing for a little while with Marco speaking up eventually.

"Is everyone who joins… happy?" Toffee's voice lightened noticeably as he answered.

"For once we have good news there. Due to many revolutionary ideals and techniques Mewni is more prosperous then it has been in generations and what's more the wealth is distributed across many people and not just kept by those in power. Yes there are those who demean the nation of Mewni but they are a distinct minority in most areas if they exist at all. Admittedly there is some of what you might call 'propaganda'…" Marco looked at Toffee still a bit unsure. "… but what nation doesn't do that?" Marco went to answer but found he didn't have any. "Any more questions before we move onto a different topic." Marco responded after a minute.

"I don't think so… man this far heavier than I thought it would be." Toffee sighed as he responded with a heavy voice.

"I know what you mean Marco. I can shrug off these burdens due to my Septarian nature but even I understand what you mean." After another minute Toffee spoke up again. "There are several nations with which we have a special relationship with. 'The Kingdom of the Water folk' and 'The Ponyhead Kingdom' are close allies of ours with which we freely trade and associate with." Toffee gestured across the room to King Ponyhead and a pair of humanoid fish people that looked like a king and queen. "'The Pigeon Kingdom' is a close ally but what makes them different from the earlier two is that their kingdom is rather recent. Though they have been a people for quite some time they have only been recognized as a kingdom since Moon's reign began." He gestured again at a pair of pigeons, not humanoid pigeons but simple pigeons, wearing crowns. "Ornlun or 'The Mountaintop Kingdom' as many refer to it is the home of the Dawi Zharr and is technically a part of The Kingdom of Mewni but Moon has granted them self-governance so long as they don't deviate from the queen's mandates and, more recently, The Mewman Bill of Rights." Toffee gestured across the room to a 9 foot tall and really broad shouldered and squat looking entity with black skin and hair, both head and facial, the color of flames. "The Bill of rights was actually a creation of your principal Mr. Lancer I do believe." Marco smiled at that one as Toffee continued. "Most Monster clans have since been incorporated as a part of the Kingdom of Mewni and their chiefs are with us now…" He gestured to the local nobility with Marco picking out Monsters amongst them. "… but officially they and the Monster druids are still 'separate' from Moon's rule and instead I rule them as a high king to Monster kind." Marco spoke up at this.

"Will this be on the test?" Toffee nodded and chuckled as he answered.

"Yes it actually will be." They shared a chuckle. "Of course they will be official initiated when Star becomes queen as technically she is heir to both Mewmans and Monsters; the morning Star that guides everyone to the future." Marco found himself smiling and glancing at Star who looked a bit tense just sitting on the side for now but seemed to still be enjoying herself taking with Alexis, Ponyhead, and some girl dressed like a goth at a formal spider ball. "And what's more we have a very powerful ally at the very northern edge of the lower lands, Ticalla Jungle home of the seven Monster kingdoms." Toffee gestured across the room to what looked to be an aging Septarian, if that was even possible, with reddish colored skin and a hood like a cobra's. "The ruler of the seven clans is a vocal ally of ours and supplies aid whenever he can which surprises me a bit considering many Septarians hold onto grudges fr long periods of time." Marco raised an eyebrow at this.

"Grudges? After what you and St-The princess keep on saying about her majesty?" Toffee nodded and responded.

"Not all Monsters are happy with the new world Marco as they view incorporating with Mewmans to be a sign of weakness on their part. We should be pushing Mewmans out and not living and breeding with them they claim. There are even fewer of them compared to the total population then Mewmans though and those are restricted to set tribes for the most part. Moon wanted to avoid a conflict with them and they wished to likewise so they agreed to be placed on a reservation where no Mewman or hybrid is to ever trespass without permission from a local." At this Toffee's voice grew foreboding and… 'wait is that nervousness I sense in his voice!?' Marco thought in shock. "Now most rulers I have not named but this one you will need to know." He pointed across the room to the edge of the crowd of nobles where there was an entity wearing a large black cloak covering everything except from a reptilian snout and a smoke pipe. "He is a dangerous Monster, a Septarian, whose grudge and anger against Mewmans is near insatiable. He is one of the few who called me a traitor to Monster kind for marrying Moon and refused to support her in The War of Moonlight Shadow. He is the high chief of the Monster clans who live on the reservation and personally hunts for trespassers himself." As Marco looked at the entity he could feel it's gaze fall onto him like a heavy weight. "He was once… my mentor and sent me to infiltrate the royal family as an advisor to pick out weaknesses until I realized that defeating them in the field was an impossibility. He threw me out when I gave him that information calling me a coward. He goes by many names… but his true name is Seth." Marco spoke to himself at this.

"Seth." Marco saw the pipe light up to reveal for a brief second eyes that glared a cold hatred that would make Toffee's gaze at his most stern seem like a child's. Marco knew just from the way Toffee was reacting and that gaze that Seth was, while not the most powerful, easily the most dangerous entity in the room. Marco reflexively glanced at Star a cold nervousness breaking out. 'Did he try to kill her in the past?' Marco glanced back at Seth whom, and he wasn't entirely sure about this, seemed to grinning ever so slightly from his previous expression. This spell was broken however when a tinkling bell sounded across the room as The dance of Stone concluded with Manfred speaking up.

"The Dance of the Forest is to commence shortly, let everyone take their places." 'Oh right, this is still a formal ball of sorts.' Marco shook himself off asss Toffee spoke up.

"Now here is where I will be education you about the way we do business through this as Star will be participating herself." Marco nodded as he thought to himself. 'Alright I got this; let's see what's going on in the kingdom.'

 **SN: Hippie... Hippie? Can you come out? It's time for...**

 **Audience: Guest reviews!**

 **Wh: Ok ok, sorry *sniff* it;s just... hard at times. Anyways.**

 **Shiranai Atsune: This is actually kind of lifted from the episode 'Clubsnubbed'. Not surprised you don't remember it, it wasn't too good an episode.**

 **Xzbro: Nice to see you're still here, I'll keep on going.**

 **The Book of Eli: Well yes the lesson is kind of like that. As for the princesses, you'll find out more about that later.**

 **Unnamed (The only one not asking for more): Yeah, I'm diving more into it in the next episode and the one after that. I need to deal with it... and Janjak... and put the spotlight on some other characters as well. I have a lot to do mate. :) *shrugs***


	97. A House of Thrones pt 3

**Well did not expect to go on like this. A bit more... exposition and world-building folks. DON'T WORRY, this is last time I will be going off on a tangent like this; I just really want to explain how my world works I'm proud of it. Although I did include more then just world-building this time... I think. I can get a little caught up in this. No matter, back to the story.**

"It is a great honor my lady; just don't make Penelope _too_ jealous." Darren spoke with a surprisingly normal voice as he danced with Star as she responded giggling.

"Oh don't worry about it, I'm just entertaining one of my vassals and friends." Star danced alongside Darren as several noble boys danced to the side clearly jealous of the attention Darren was getting.

The dance of the Forest was the first 'serious' dance in Star's mind because it's the one where she was supposed to dance with those whose families her mother and father favored. She did find it a bit boring though as all she had to do was accept dances from those her parents deemed should be accepted and reach out to a few to show particular favor; and she was lucky Clan Aloe was one of them. The political intrigue wasn't the major thing for her, it was the background for her life at these occasions, but she did find it annoying how most of the boys, and some of the girls, kept on pushing to dance for her HARD. She constantly checked out of the corner of her eye to make sure Marco was ok with this… and he seemed oddly distracted with what Toffee was saying to him during the whole evening. 'Wonder what they're talking about… I wish I could join them.' Star thought to herself as she heard the bell ring bringing the dance to a close with her mother speaking up.

"The strength of our people has been planted deeply and grows strong." Star stepped back and curtseyed in a small flourish that had been practiced for much of her life. "Now let us…" Her mother and Star's curtsey were suddenly interrupted by a large thump with vibrations.

Everyone began looking back and forth in confusion with the children going back to their sitting places as the knights immediately went on high alert. After about a minute however the reason for this was made clear with Manfred's announcement.

"Announcing the arrival of King Dave Lucitor and Queen Wrathmelior Lucitor with their son Prince Thomas Lucitor of The Underworld." Star's eyebrows went up in confusion as murmurs spread throughout the crowds of nobility.

"The Lucitors!"

"They dare to come here?"

"Are the Butterflys really ok with them?"

"*harrumph* Waltzing in like nothing is wrong."

"A bold strategy, let's see how it plays out."

'Well, this is going to be interesting. Hopefully Tom is going to be ok.' Star thought to herself as Dave, the 25 foot tall Wrathmelior, and Tom (with The Wandering Hippie in tow for some reason) took their seats as Moon made to announce The dance of Steel.

* * *

 **SN: 30 seconds earlier**

"… so The freehold of Tormund has been surrounded by The Kingdom of Mewni… for 10 years?" Marco asked this with clear shock as Toffee nodded replying.

"Yes. They voted to remain independent and, despite being severely anti-inclusive to non-Mewmans, they have maintained the economic independence to survive. They are rather small, only having roughly 256 sq kilometers of land area in their realm, yet have maintained independence. What surprises me is how they survived having alienated most trading guilds with their conservative views." Marco had to admit that was impressive as he watched The dance of The Forest wrap up.

Toffee had been filling in Marco on the remaining 'important' kingdoms after explaining The dance of the Forest while waiting for The dance of Steel which, according to Toffee, was the most important one. In that time he had learned about Rimal Bayda, the Arabian like desert kingdom just west of Ticalla jungle, and Kingdom Gorge, the nation situated in a gigantic mountain pass in the border mountains just south of the previously mentioned two nations. Both of those were valuable trading partners, especially Rimal Bayda as it controlled the non-sea trading routes to the north. Toffee had also mentioned another race known as 'The Rats' which were essentially very large sentient rats that had no nation of their own but lived under Moon Butterfly's rule. At this Toffee spoke up again.

"Now this next dance is rather important as it focuses on Mewni foreign rela-" * **thump** *Marco looked around in confusion speaking up.

"What was that?" * **Thump** * Toffee replied after a few seconds.

"I have an idea, but it's a bit of a long stretch." After a few seconds Toffee nodded to the door. "As anticipated, fashionably late." Marco blinked in shock as while he recognized Tom and The Wandering Hippie with him he did not recognize the Mewman and the 25 foot tall demon like thing. 'Hard to tell if that's a Monster or a demon.' Marco thought to himself as Manfred spoke up.

"Announcing the arrival of King Dave Lucitor and Queen Wrathmelior Lucitor with their son Prince Thomas Lucitor of The Underworld." Marco watched them take their seats as the crowds murmured a little with Toffee filling Marco in.

"They would be the Lucitors, the rulers of the Underworld and the demons and the undead that live within it. It also has the honor of being perhaps the second most powerful nation in all of the lower lands right behind The Kingdom of Mewni itself." Marco nodded at that as Toffee continued. "With the advent of the modern Silver Bell Ball they had only taken to showing up during The dance of Steel which is the closest to how the ball was before Moon and I altered it to suit the modern day; that is before they stopped coming at all." Marco blinked in confusion at this and went to ask a question that, once again, Toffee seemingly already knew what it was. "Are you aware of Tom and my daughter's relationship?" Marco nodded as he answered.

"Yes, even the punishment Star gave him." As Toffee answered Marco had a very bad feeling he knew where this was going.

"Well after their 'breakup' many nations looked down on the Lucitors for not only not curbing their son's anger but being willing to go to war to keep from admitting it; what many claim was the height of folly. Many of Moon's family members outright said the Lucitors should do far more than just apologize and let their son be punished by Star for his actions. The Lucitor's pride, a thing they value very highly above all else, was damaged even more severally by these accusations and as such they have refused in the past five balls to come at all due to the situation. Moon has been rather busy with other things and with a tempestuous relationship between the two kingdoms stretching back centuries it has… not gone so well in healing that wound." Marco responded to that.

"Why can't everyone just call it even after all that? I know both Tom and Star have moved on from that and are good friends again." Toffee glanced at Marco replying with a deliberate tone.

"Because it would show weakness for either side to approach first." Marco stared at Toffee in confusion as Moon began speaking about The dance of Steel. "The Butterflys were wronged so they don't want to forgive too easily lest others take advantage of them while the Lucitors don't wish to lose what pride they have left and appear to be whipped curs of the Butterflys, their only real rivals." Marco took this in nodding slowly as Toffee changed topic. "But enough of that, on to more important matters. The dance of Steel is essentially what the original Silver Bell Ball was before the changes made which is foreign powers cementing their alliances with each other. In the more traditional style the heir for both Mewni and the Underworld will ask various different political heirs to dance culminating with the two of them dancing. However that has since changed so that each heir will get to choose one person to dance with before moving onto a major dance involving all of the political entities. But I am guessing we will be revisiting the more traditional style at least somewhat." At this Star got up and moved across the dance floor to a fancy looking pigeon on what looked to be a mechanical pair of legs. "And my suspicions were correct yet again." Star held her hand out to Rich pigeon, 'God what a weird name.' Marco thought to himself as Star spoke up.

"Rich Pigeon, would you care to dance with me?" The pigeon seemed to smile as Marco thought to himself, 'He hasn't spoken a single word the entire night, are these guys really…'

"I would love to princess Star." A slight gasp came out of everyone with the two pigeons looking like they were about to faint due to shock. Marco turned towards Toffee who had an intrigued look on his face as the two started dancing.

"Very interesting, they can speak a recognizable language; and Low Mewman no less. Considering his parents look like they didn't know about this I must say he trusts Star to a great degree to reveal such a feature. Maybe our alliance is going to be quite strong after all…"

"Your Majesty?" Toffee blinked as if coming out of a daze and replied to Marco.

"I'm fine, just had some interesting information piled on me. *Ahem* Regardless judging by my daughter's lack of reaction she must have known something about this so… this may be a case of playing the game well. The alliance between us and the pigeons is certainly much stronger now in the eyes of everyone even if it isn't actually that way." Marco blinked as he realized that Star didn't have a strong reaction… and neither did Alexis, Ponyehad, or that other girl with them. 'Is Star already playing this game to her advantage? Damn I have some catching up I need to do.' Marco thought to himself as the dance ended. "So if I am correct in my assumption with the Lucitors coming tonight this will either be a peace offering to the Butterflys or they are going to passive-aggressively imply they want back in and are waiting for us to ask for them to return." Tom got up from his seat and moved to ask Ponyhead to dance, which she accepted with a bit of miffed air. "And it is the later. You remember how I told you about the initial asking for the dance Marco." Marco nodded and replied.

"The Lucitors have told Tom they want Star to ask him to dance and not the other way around to imply that they are still a proud nation standing on par with them. If they were to ask it would imply that they were in some way subservient to the Butterflys and they do not want that." Toffee slowly applauded Marco's words as Star chose her next partner.

"You have learned well already, I see you have a bright future ahead of you at our side." Marco beamed at this. "Now if only everyone in our family was as astute as you are. I think you may not have noticed this but the Butterfly family itself is actually not such a 'proficient' group of politicians. Several are astute and capable and that number is on the rise due to Moon giving them a set education, can't believe we need to force that, but they are still the minority where it counts. Most of their education is about military leadership and court etiquette with the former being limited in its helpfulness even in this time and the latter mostly good for being polite and almost nothing else." Toffee shook his head for a second as if accepting the state the Butterfly family is in. "However like I said that is changing, especially since entire noble families are being slowly incorporated into the family due to marriage, bringing in fresh ideas and capable minds… for the most part. One such capable mind is a Sir Stamford Greyjoy master of the royal treasury and father to a Helsinki Greyjoy." He pointed to a balding man with a thin beard of silver hair wearing subdued and aged clothing, like it hadn't been replaced in a while, who was slim and had a surprisingly youthful look in his clear grey eyes. "His propensity for saving money and finding unique ways to produce and procure it has proven invaluable; you will be studying under him for economics as well as a variety of different tutors in various subjects in addition to your knight training." Marco actually chuckled at that feeling a bit of familiarity.

"Well I'm going back to school it seems. I hope this won't lose my interest like earth school does." Toffee nodded with a wry lopsided grin on his face.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. I've heard of how your school functions and Star claims that yes it is rather slow and even drull at times. I think it's a policy to insure no kid is left behind which seems rather strange, I mean everyone deserves education but there's no need to hold others back just to help the slow ones out." As they had gone on in their conversation Star and Tom had been going back and forth asking different representatives to their kingdoms to dance. "Well, it looks like they are 'Clubsnubbing' each other." Marco raised an eyebrow in confusion as Toffee explained. "It's when two nobles of a similar stature try to bait the other into asking them to dance so the one who is being asked has the advantage of prestige." Marco looked at Star seeing how she seemed surprisingly relaxed even though she snuck worried glances in Tom's direction who, by comparison, seemed rather nervous glancing at his parents constantly; specifically his father.

"I think Tom doesn't want to do this." Marco brought this up as he watched The Wandering Hippie, dressed in a large leather duster with some sort of fishing hat and his staff from the end of year school dance, whisper to Tom in a reassuring manner.

"I think you are right and judging from the way he is looking it seems King Dave Lucitor is the mastermind behind this." Marco also noticed that many people were keeping their eyes focused on Tom and Star with intrigue.

"What's going to happen?"

"*sigh* We shall find out soon enough."

* * *

'Why does it have to turn out this way?' Star thought to herself as she watched Tom dance with the princess from Rimal Bayda. She had been hoping for just a 'normal' dance but all chances of that had been thrown out the window when the Lucitors showed up. As Tom finished up his dance Star heard Ponyhead whisper to her.

"Go for Prince Kelpbottem, don't give Tom the satisfaction of winning this Clubsnubbing match." Alexis spoke up at that.

"You do realize it's his dad who's behind this issue right?" Star left going for Kelpbottem unsure of what to do otherwise as she heard Ponyhead whisper one last thing.

"Well it doesn't matter; she shouldn't let them push her around after what demon turd has done to her." Star asked Prince Kelpbottem to dance with her which he eagerly accepted.

As she danced she once again gazed around the room specifically taking in Marco and Toffee, who had gone strangely silent now, as they watched her. Sophia Rose and some of the other girls watched her with interest almost certainly finding the situation gossip worthy and her discomfort entertaining. Tom appeared extremely uncomfortable with The Wandering Hippie appearing to act as much as a bodyguard as moral support. 'Didn't know he did that kind of stuff.' Star thought to herself knowing it might be needed given how many of the young men were trying to stare him down, likely to intimidate him into not going for her hand. 'Seriously, we're not getting back together why are they so obsessed over this?!' Star thought to herself as she took in the king and queen. Wrathmelior seemed concerned over her son like she didn't want to force him into the spotlight while Dave seemed to be staring Tom down as if to say 'Don't do anything I didn't tell you to do.' She finished up her dance with Kelpbottem only now realizing he had been talking to her the whole time and was expecting a reply from her.

"Oh um…" Kelpbottem chuckled a little bitterly at this as he responded.

"It's ok, it can be distracting when your ex just waltzes in uninvited; even though he technically was." They parted with him kissing her hand.

As she went back to her seat she heard her mother's voice in her head, a spell that her mom could use to deliver a few words but not much more. _'Next time you step up, ask Tom to dance. We need to heal rifts despite our pride.'_ Star sighed and glanced at her mother before sitting down as Alexis and Ponyhead had just finished an argument with Alexis finishing up.

"… so we should not hold King Lucitor's actions over Tom." Ponyhead shrugged nonchalantly as she replied.

"Eh, he's still a turd for what he's doing." Star spoke up at this.

"Will you stop it with Tom, I don't think he has a choice here. It's like how we don't really have a choice when our parents tell us to do things for this dance." Ponyhead shrugged again.

"Eh, this whole 'political thingy' is overrated anyways. Why can't we just talk to each other and sort out our crap there?" Star rolled her eyes knowing exactly what her dad would say if he heard that.

She looked up as Tom got up and started walking across the dance floor towards the princess from Kingdom Gorge. As she waited for her turn to go up Tom seemed to suddenly slow in walking across the floor as if making some snap decisions. At this small action everyone went quiet and watched him as Tom closed his eyes and inhaled and exhaled slowly as his feet turned at the last second and took his last few steps… to stand right in front of Star.

"Princess Star Butterfly, would you care to dance with me?" The silence was so palpable that a pin could be dropped and everyone would hear it. Star practically laughed as she felt some of the tension suddenly leave her as she accepted his hand and stood up replying with a smile.

"I would love to Prince Tom." Star practically swept Tom up onto the dance floor as Tom followed along almost stumbling. "Sorry about that, but man it's actually a relief to see you here again." Tom chuckled as glanced over shoulder and replied.

"Yeah, it's nice to be here with you again." As they turned in their dance Star saw the varying expression everyone was watching them with surprisingly bringing her some relief.

The Hippie had two thumbs up was a big grin on his face while Wrathmelior was practically weeping with relief as she watched her son relax as the tension in the room dissipated with The Butterfly family chucking amongst themselves. Everyone else was relaxing… except for Dave Lucitor. Star could see a look of absolute disappointment on his face as he looked away from his son. 'Well that can't be good.' Star thought to herself as she spoke to Tom.

"So, your parents told you to Clubsnub me?" Tom nodded as he replied.

"Well somewhat. My extended family was a bit divided on whether or not we should even come with many of them telling me to Clubsnub you so that either you would ask me to dance or we would still be standing proud despite not dancing with you. I… decided it was time to end this idiocy and just make nice despite the potential cost. In fact a surprising amount of my family will support me in this choice, mostly my younger cousins and the really old guys." Star smiled as she spoke up.

"And your mom, she seems happy about this." They both chuckled as the dance wrapped up with her green eyes meeting his blood red ones. "It's nice to have you as a friend again Tom." Tom leaned over and the kissed each other on the cheeks as he responded.

"Likewise, I hope Marco doesn't get jealous."

"Oh he's better than that." They parted ways with Star stepping lightly over to her side most of the girls were looking at her wide eyed. "What?" As Star stepped down Penelope spoke up.

"Are you and Tom… well…" As others giggled Star blushed realizing what they meant.

"Nononononono, not like that. We actually sorted things out a while back, we're just friends now."

"Well if you insist." Star wasn't sure who said that as most of the girls giggled.

Star groaned rolling her eyes at this as she looked at the boys across the room who were casting jealous looks at Tom. 'Ugghhh, it's not like flames and butterflies were dancing around us with every step like the first time at this Ball when we were a couple! Seriously!' Star glanced back up to Toffee and Marco as Moon rang the bell again with the two talking to each other. 'I really want to go up there and talk with them right now.'

* * *

"So let me guess, The dance of the Butterflies is next?" Toffee nodded as Moon ended the Dance of Steel early.

"Indeed. Now this dance in a bit unusual as like its name suggests it focuses on The Butterfly family itself. The idea of this dance is to get family members of the Butterflys out and involved with foreign nobility and higher ranking nobility of our own nation. It can come across as a bit egocentric to the Butterfly family but with the way things are progressing it makes a little too much sense." Marco nodded as he watched the young members of the Butterfly family get up as well as said nobility. "Now this one in terms of practicality is where some of the more important bonds are formed between the Butterflys and their prominent allies. If the other family members allow you to dance with Star herself it's a sign that we favor you to the extreme; and I have no doubt people will try to push Montague towards Star here." Marco sighed in annoyance as he watched many guests get asked by Butterfly members to dance with Star stepping up towards the center.

"So this is a combination of several other dances except revolving around the royal family?" Toffee nodded as the dance started with a figure being pushed towards Star almost immediately. "Who's that?" Toffee smiled slightly as he spoke up.

"Perhaps t's time I finally talked about the Archduchy families as this is where they feature very prominently. The one you are seeing now is Penelope Spiderbite of House Spiderbite, a close ally of ours amongst the lords. Their history is… unique as not 10 years ago they were an independent nation nearly equal in land to ours. However when sentiments to join Mewni's new age began rising up they took one look at what was going on across the continent and decided to just accept their demands whole heartedly making the best of it." Marco watched as Star seemed to enjoy dancing with Penelope who seemed to be a good friend of hers. "They almost immediately sued Moon for them to join with Mewni knowing she could handle people batter and had the resources to help them out on the condition they were made an Archduchy family. Moon of course accepted and everyone went home happy." Marco smiled at that as a blond, ruddy skinned, and purple eyed boy wearing regal purple and gold clothing stepped up and gracefully asked Star to dance.

"Who's that, he seems very important even compared to your family members?"

"That would be Duncan Miner of House Miner who has the distinct privilege of being not only the oldest of the Archduchy families but the richest with access to many gold, gem, iron, and the largest Adamantium mines in the Lower Lands. They are one of two Archduchy families that survived The War of Moonlight Shadow and there is ample reason why. They are adaptive and a shrewd business group more than anything else insuring their power with connection to guilds as much as their mines. They are a very prominent family and everyone works with them even if we do not count them as 'friends'." Marco nodded taking in their dance as Duncan while a fabulously skilled dancer had a detached nature about him as if this really was nothing but a business transaction dancing with Star. 'Then again, technically stuff like marriage and positions of land and power were business transactions in medieval times.' Marco thought to himself as the next dancer stepped up, one he was very familiar with.

"I am sure you know of Alexis Avarius of House Avarius, one of Star's closest friends?" Marco nodded as Alexis and Star danced ore to have fun than anything else even though they got a few disapproving stares from people. "House Avarius got its position not a few months after Alexis was born as a peace offering to Monsterkind, to show them that Moon's promise of equality was not just empty words. Originally a Monster clan set up by Crescenta the Eager to control Monster-kind they now serve as an important bond between The Monster clans and The Kingdom of Mewni until Star ascends to the throne and also stands as a sign that Monster clan leaders are viewed as equals to Mewman nobility." Marco nodded smiling as someone else stepped up after a short while when Alexis was almost forcibly taken away. This boy had flowing shoulder length green hair, pale skin, and deep green eyes to compliment his white and green clothing as he asked Star for a dance.

"That would be Aaron Forest of House Forest, the largest and second oldest of the Archduchy families. They specialized in Forest craft, hence their name, and before the war were the lowest amongst the Archduchy families due to their humble origins as peasantry and being the youngest of the Archduchy families at the time. However their fortunes changed when they supported Moon during The War of Moonlight Shadow early on gaining a safe foot hold in the future. With the new tide of revolutionary change they not only survived but thrived in this new world. Our relationship with them is also rather close as a member of their family is the mother to Alexis Avarius." Marco nodded taking that in as he watched their dance finish.

Strangely enough though after this point few people actually stepped up to dance with Star as the rest of the family seemed to be acting like a distracting shield of sorts. At this point Toffee also fell silent almost as if he was waiting for something before continuing. As Marco watched the dance floor he began to realize why as his memory pulled out the rumor he had heard straight from the man himself. And that man, Montague Hatter, was slowly becoming the last non-Butterfly dancing in the room. As Marco was about to comment on this the information Toffee imparted on him began to come back as well, making him realize an important detail; Montague wasn't being forced towards Star she was being 'pushed' towards him.

"Are the rest of Star's family…" Toffee nodded understanding what Marco was implying.

"Yes, it seems they wish for Star to ask him to dance instead of the other way around; a small thing but with that rumor going around it will make a world of difference." Marco blinked in confusion as he spoke up.

"But wouldn't that make House Butterfly look… subservient to House Hatter?" Toffee chuckled a little darkly as he replied.

"Perhaps you should hear a bit about House Hatter. Those other Houses that I claimed were 'close' with our House were mostly close to Queen Moon with several family members who support her closely; like Helsinki and Willow. Everyone else tends to be a bit 'indifferent' towards them and their support of Moon's revolutionary nature; House Hatter on the other hand a bit opposite of that. With the Milatary reforms making a standing army, The Senate being founded listening to only the commoners, the judicial system put in place to interpret laws indifferently, and the Houses Spiderbite and Avarius being appointed many more conservative noble houses, including many of Moon's own family, began protesting that they were not getting proper representation higher up. In a move to placate them Moon elevated one of the houses of their choice, House Hatter, to be an Archduchy family. They are what you would call the 'far right conservatives' and sometimes devil's advocates of higher up policy making. And while they do support us and convince many nobles to support us their support is mostly bought for a price. And that price is insuring that the nobility remain the ones in charge despite the Senate and Judicial systems meant to check and balance them out." At this point Star had finally conceded to asking Montague to dance with him looking overjoyed with fake surprise and Star looking rather uncomfortable.

As the family circled around the duo backing away respectfully Star shot Marco a glance saying 'I'm sorry' as she danced with him. 'No need to be, I think this was planned behind Moon's back.' Marco thought to himself. A quick glance at a stone-faced Moon confirmed his theory making him annoyed at the family in general. He glanced back at Toffee with his monotone face revealing nothing as he continued.

"I do believe this move is meant to show everyone that House Butterfly counts House Hatter as very close; with the rumor of their engagement adding to it. I do also believe this a farce by the more conservative members of our family to show that Moon's reforms are not, as they would put it, going 'too far' in the minds of many. *sigh* This is why Moon needs to crack down more on these nobility before they pull a…" But Toffee's words fell short, as did everyone else's in the room. At that moment when the dance was about to conclude Montague dipped Star down and kissed her full on the lips.

"…"

"…"

"…"

The shock was palpable even with those who seemed to support it although it was an overjoyed shock. Time seemed to slow down for Marco as he watched Montague not just kiss but also rub his hands over parts of her; conservatively but he was still basically molesting Star. He felt a white hot anger begin to build up as he watched Star being taken advantage of by Montague… only to have cut off by a painful grip to his wrist. He glanced over to see a monotone Toffee, with anger all to evident in his eyes, speak to Marco softly.

"Cold as ice. Cold as…" Yet again Toffee's words fell short as suddenly Star slapped Montague across the face to detach him from her and then uppercut him hard enough to send him flying on his back several feet away.

The shock had increased in the room with no pleasant tone to some at this point, only simple shock. Star stared at Montague her eyes a red-veined yellow as blood dripped from the claws on the hand that slapped him. Montague held his bleeding face in shock looking up as if the idea of Star beating him back and slashing his face for kissing her against her will was completely unexpected. Star's other hand had reached behind her dress where Marco knew she kept her wand and now felt fear for Star. She was in panic mode right now and he had no idea if she would just start blasting at Montague for what he just did; it would be deserved but in this area it would be bad. As he watched however Star's eyes went back to normal and she pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood almost daintily from her hand before wiping her lips of the smudged lipstick before speaking.

"You forget yourself Montague Hatter. You do seem to realize that rumor of our engagement was just a rumor right?" She turned and walked off as Marco swore he heard Racheal Patten's 'Fight Song' playing in the background. He also heard a few cheers from some of the nobility, although that may have just been Ponyhead being herself. At that however Montague stood up growing red-faced in anger as he yelled at Star.

"YOU DARE TO SPURN ME! DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN DO ANY BETTER THEN ME YOU FILTHY MUD BLOOD!" At that everyone did a gasp as he had just hurled the worst insult you could give a hybrid right at the princess, making her stop in her tracks. Marco felt the anger return only to have it dissipate when Star began chuckling and turned to look at Montague with a smile on her face as she replied.

"Of course I can, watch." She marched promptly over to Manfred and held out her hand. "Manfred would you care to dance with me." There was absolute silence as Manfred responded in disbelief while being pulled out onto the dance floor by Star as he hesitated.

"My word… I never thought… I would be chosen. I-I'm dancing with the princess herself." Manfred continued to babble a little as they danced with Montague watching them in disbelief… before suddenly turning towards Marco red-faced again in anger with everyone else looking at Marco in shock.

"You think that's funny?" At that Marco realized he had been chuckling at that and didn't even realize it. "You think that's funny?!" As he advanced towards Marco he glanced at Toffee who was giving Marco a pained expression making it clear Marco had inadvertently just dug his own grave…

"Dang… anger issues man, maybe you could help him out now that you've helped me." Marco and Montague both looked at Tom as The Hippie responded to him.

"I don't know, I can deal with you but this seems like it's beyond my abilities."

"Oooooohhhhhhh." This came from multiple people in the crowd watching this unfold with an additional surprise as another peal of laughter came out. Montague turned red-face again but this time almost immediately paled in shock as it turned out Moon was laughing at him. Toffee joined in with her making him double take as did multiple other nobility. More nobility joined in the laughter quickly, starting with Star's friends, followed by the knights acting as honor guard with Marco laughing as well. Montague was soon faced down just moments after what was to be his greatest moment of triumph with the worst humiliation he had ever faced in his life. Trying to save face he turned and went to walk out only to suddenly have his ear be grabbed by an elderly looking man who spoke up with a short bark.

"That's enough out of you ya pathetic toddler!" He pulled Montague's head down and bowed towards Moon with the laughter dying down. "My sincerest apologies your majesty; I have no idea where those rumors of engagement came from or how my son was swayed by them." Moon rang her bell making everyone fall silent before she replied.

"I understand Archduke Hatter, children can be full of themselves; I was one such child at one point." Everyone chuckled at this in a more good natured fashion. "Please do direct your son towards a better path in life so he does not make such mistakes in the future. As my punishment towards him for his 'presumption' he shall be permanently barred from courting my daughter… unless if he can prove himself a changed man to me and my husband." Moon added that last bit reluctantly as if she didn't believe he deserved that chance with Archduke Hatter wincing as he bowed accepting it.

"Very well your majesty; we shall take our leave now and I shalt punish my son as well." He began pulling Montague out with him. "Now come on boy, you have a lot of stables to clean out." As they left Moon rang the bell again, this time to signal Star and Manfred to stop dancing speaking up.

"I do declare that this Silver Bell Ball, despite a few interruptions, shalt be considered a success. May peace forever prosper in the lower Lands."

"Long may the peace last and long live The Queen." Everyone spoke up at that as Toffee motioned for Marco.

"At this point I'm giving you an order to go down and personally see to my daughter's well-being. Oh and do enjoy the rest of the evening. Lessons are over." Marco smiled and saluted Toffee before he walked down to the dance floor heading straight for Star.

"Hello there Sir Shadowslayer." Marco turned and swore he saw a Mewman version of Star with blond hair, blue eyes, and no heart cheeks speak to him. "Might I ask where you are going in such a hurry?" At this a crowd of giggling girls came up around him almost as if in ambush. 'Oh boy.' Marco thought to himself.

 **WH: Tiem once again for...**

 **Audience: Guest Reviews.**

 **Shiranai Atsune: Well here's another one.**

 **The Book of Eli: enemies, frenemies, rivals, friends, allies, etc. so many around him so little time. And now Marco's lesson is officially over.**

 **The Opinionator: Thank you, I honestly was not sure how well i did the exposition here... or in this chapter. would it shock you to know I've never seen that movie but I have seen a clip with that joke? As for your questions: 1. Potentially, I'll see what I can do. 2. I'll have to keep that hidden for now. 3. This chapter already answered that question, as in Tom only. Thank you for commenting and the reasons for why you love reading it are many of the reasons why I love writing; I say the show and I saw additional possibilities. This is what happens when you let imagination rule the day.**


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